Obama asks Congress to delay vote on Syria strike, pursue UN diplomacy

President Barack Obama on Tuesday night asked the US Congress to delay a vote authorizing a US military strike on Syria while a Russian-suggested diplomatic path - involving the Assad regime handing over its chemical weapons - is pursued through the United Nations. In a prime-time address to the nation from the White House East Room, Obama said that over the last few days, "we have seen some encouraging signs in part because of the credible threat of US military action as well as constructive talks that I had with Russian President Vladimir Putin." The Russian government has indicated a willingness to join with the international community in pushing Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to give up his chemical weapons, Obama said. "The Assad regime has now admitted that it has these weapons and even said they would join the chemical weapons convention, which prohibits their use," the President said. "It is too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments," Obama said. "But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad's strongest allies. "I have therefore asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path," Obama said. "I am sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin. I have spoken to the leaders of two of our closest allies, France and the United Kingdom, and we will work together in consultation with Russia and China to put forward a resolution at the UN Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control." "We will also give UN inspectors the opportunity to report their findings about what happened on August 21st," he said, "and we will continue to rally support from allies, from Europe to the Americas, from Asia to the Middle East, who agree on the need for action." The President said he had ordered the US military to maintain its current posture "to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails." The Assad government "gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children" on August 21, Obama said. "If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons." As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason but to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them, he said. "Over time our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield, and it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and to use them to attack civilians," the President said. "If fighting spills beyond Syria's borders, these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan and Israel." A failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction and embolden Assad's ally, Iran, which must decide whether to ignore international law by building a nuclear weapon or to take a more peaceful path, Obama said, adding, "This is not a world we should accept." "When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory," he said."But these things happened. The facts cannot be denied." "The question now is what the United States of America and the international community is prepared to do about it, because what happened to those people, to those children, is not only a violation of international law, it is also a danger to our security."