(Wednesday Night) Strike Against Assad Regime Stalled by British Political Rows _ the Guardian

7/29/2019 (Wednesday Night) Strike Against Assad Regime Stalled by British Political Rows _ the Guardian

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UN chemica l weapons experts wear ing ga s masks carr y samples from one of the sites of an alleged att ack in

Dama scus. Photograph : Reut ers

Allied air strikes against the Syrian government over the alleged use of chemical

weapons could be delayed until next week in the f ace of strong opposition in the UK

parliament to British involvement in immediate military action.

The British prime minister, David Cameron, conceded that MPs would be given a second

vote to approve military action to def use a parliamentary revolt, ahead of a Commons

debate on Syria on Thursday. W hitehall sources indicated that the US, which had

Strike against A ssad regime stalled by

British political rowsMilitary response to alleged Syria chemical attack may be delayed

until Tuesday as Obama warns Syria of 'international

consequences'

Follow Julian Borger by emailBETA

Nicholas Wat t , Julian Borger, Nick Hopkins

The Guardian, Wednesday 28 Augu st 201 3 2 1 .36 BST



planned to launch the strikes by the weekend, is prepared to revive a back-up plan to

delay the strikes until Tuesday when Barack Obama is due to set out f or the G20

summit in Russia.

Such a move by the Obama administration would ef f ectively hand Cameron a political

lif eline af ter the opposition Labour party threatened to inf lict a def eat on the

Conservative-led coalition in parliament.

In an ef f ort to build support f or punitive strikes, the US and UK will on Thursday

publish a joint summary of the intelligence which they say points towards the Assad

regime's responsibility f or the poison gas attack of 21 August in Ghouta, eastern

Damascus, that killed over 1,000 people.

Obama said in a television interview on W ednesday that he had not taken a f inal decision

on air strikes, but that Syria needed to understand there were "international

consequences" f or its actions. "If in f act we make a choice to have repercussions f or theuse of chemcial weapons, then the Assad regime will have received a pretty strong signal

that in f act it had better not do it again," Obama told PBS.

In a ref lection of the dif f erent political pressures pulling the transatlantic allies in

dif f erent directions, Downing Street undertook to return to the security council in a

renewed ef f ort to secure a UN mandate f or military action af ter Russia blocked a British

resolution at an inf ormal meeting in New York. But the US state department meanwhile

insisted it saw "no avenue f orward" at the UN f or f inding an international consensus f or

armed action, because of Russian support f or Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Furthermore, W ashington made it clear it saw no need to wait f or a report by UN

inspectors currently in Damascus investigating the gas attack, estimated to have killed

more than 1,000 people.

"W e are going to make our own decisions on our own timelines about our response," the

state department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. She added that because of initial

Syrian government obstruction of the UN investigation, it had "passed the point where it

can be credible".

However, the UK is now committed to wait f or the UN report. The House of Commons

will be asked by the government on Thursday to approve a "strong humanitarian

response", possibly including f orce in principle. Direct action would depend on a second

vote which in turn would be held af ter the UN weapons inspectors had reported back.

UN of f icials said the report could take another week or more to produce. The inspectors



will continue to collect samples at the Ghouta site f or the next f our days, bringing their

presence to the two weeks agreed with Damascus. The samples would then have to be

subjected to laboratory analysis.

If the wait f or the UN report extends much beyond Tuesday, the transatlantic ties could

f ray f urther, putting the prime minister under intense pressure. Cameron had f aced the

prospect of a def eat, or a politically damaging narrow victory, when MPs vote onThursday evening on a motion calling f or a proportionate response.

Syria warned of "grave consequences" if US-led military action goes ahead. Bashar al-

Jaaf ari, Syria's ambassador to the UN, told reporters outside the security council in New

York on Wednesday that the ef f ect could be f elt across the Middle East. "W e should keep

in mind what happened in Iraq and Libya", the envoy said, adding that the toppling of

Libya's Muammar Gaddaf i by Nato-backed rebels in 2011 had "spread terrorists all

over Af rica".

Jaaf ari urged the US, UK and France to back of f and allow UN weapons inspectors to

complete their investigation into last week's chemical attack outside Damascus. The sole

purpose of the threat of airstrikes was "undermining the inspection team." Jaaf ari

added: "We are not war mongers, we are a peacef ul nation seeking stability in the area.

The Syrian government is against the use of chemical weapons by all means – this is a

moral obscenity."

Speaking in London the British f oreign secretary, William Hague, said it was time f or the

UN to act. "This is the f irst use of chemical warf are in the 21st century. It has to be

unacceptable, we have to conf ront something that is a war crime, something that is a

crime against humanity. If we don't do so, then we will have to conf ront even bigger war

crimes in the f uture."

The state department also gave more details of its intended justif ication f or military

action. A spokeswoman said Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons violated "the

general law of war" while the use and prolif eration of such weapons represented a threat

to America's core national interests.

In his interv iew with PBS, Obama said that it was in America's "core self -interest" to

prevent chemical weapons being used in a volatile area, near allies such as Turkey and

Israel.

W ith as many as 70 Tory MPs threatening to rebel, British opposition leader Ed

Miliband announced just af ter 5pm BST that he would instruct his MPs to vote against

the government motion if a separate Labour amendment – calling f or any action to be



delayed – was def eated.

W ithin two hours the British government announced, as it published its motion f or the

debate, that a second vote would have to be held bef ore Britain joins any military action.

The motion says: "Bef ore any direct British involvement in such action a f urther vote of

the House of Commons will take place."

Downing Street was f urious with Miliband and accused him of having suf f ered a giant

"wobble" af ter he had appeared to indicate on Tuesday night that he would be prepared

to support military action, subject to legal approval. But Labour hit back and said that

the prime minister had been resisting a second vote until Miliband tweeted his plan to

table his own amendment.

A Labour source said: "W e will continue to scrutinise this motion but at 5.15pm David

Cameron totally ruled out a second vote, an hour and a half later he changed his mind.

Ed was determined to do the right thing. It has taken Labour f orcing a vote to f orce thegovernment to do the right thing."

Downing Street said the prime minister of f ered a second vote because he wants to act in

a consensual way. A spokesperson said: "T he prime minister is acutely aware of the

deep concerns in the country caused by what happened over Iraq. That's why we are

committed to taking action to deal with this war crime – but taking action in the right

way, proceeding on a consensual basis."

"So this motion endorses the government's consistent approach that we should takeaction in response to Assad's chemical weapons attack; ref lects the need to proceed on a

consensual basis, taking account of the work done by weapons inspectors; and ref lects

the prime minister's respect f or the UN process – something he made clear to President

Obama several days ago."

The No 10 move is likely to take the heat out of Thursday's parliamentary debate that

will be opened by Cameron at 2.30pm and wound up by Nick Clegg, the deputy prime

minister, at 10pm. The debate will be preceded by a meeting of the cabinet that will

approve a recommendation f rom the National Security Council that Britain should join

the military strikes. Dominic Grieve, the British attorney general, advised the NSC that

such action would be legal under international law.

The National Security Council also agreed a specif ic plan f or a British contribution to

military action. This f ocused on a "limited one-of f " operation and the measures that

might have to be taken to protect British interests in the region, including the def ence of

the UK 's sovereign base in Cyprus, which is thought to be potentially within range of



Wh at 's this?

Wh at 's this?

President Assad's Scud missiles.

Though considered unlikely, sources said it was possible the US would act without

British support – which would be a huge embarrassment f or the prime minister. It

would also be politically dif f icult f or the W hite House. US of f icials have stressed that

America would not act unilaterally, but in concert with partners.

France has pledged to take part in punitive action against the Assad regime, and its

presidential system means that Francois Hollande, like Barack Obama is not obliged to

consult the legislature.

However, British abstention would undermine Washington's claims of broad support.

Ad di ti onal reporting by Ed Pi l ki ngton at the U nited N ati ons

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(Wednesday Night) Strike Against Assad Regime Stalled by British Political Rows _ the Guardian