Obama: UN pact on Syrian chemical weapons potentially huge victory

A US-Russia agreement reached with the UN Security Council, aimed at eliminating the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal, is a potentially huge victory, President Barack Obama said on Friday. During an appearance with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after their Oval Office meeting, Obama said the agreement was "something that we have long sought, and the fact that we now have a framework that will be voted on perhaps as soon as today, perhaps over the weekend or Monday that would be legally binding, that would be verifiable and enforceable, where there would be consequences for Syria's failure to meet what has been set forth in this resolution, I think is a potentially huge victory for the international community." It is doubtful the agreement would have been reached had it not been for a credible threat of US action in the aftermath of the horrific tragedy that took place on August 21 in Syria, where chemical weapons killed more than a 1, 000 people, including more than 400 children, Obama said. "But I have always expressed a preference for resolving this diplomatically, and I appreciate all our international partners in working very hard over the past several days to make sure that we could arrive at a resolution that not only deters and prevents additional chemical use, but actually goes beyond what could have been accomplished to any military action, and that is the removal of chemical weapons, one of the largest stockpiles in the world from Syria so that they can actually be destroyed," the President said. In the Security Council resolution, there is an explicit endorsement of the Geneva I process to try to deal with the underlying conflict in Syria and the need for a political transition that can bring about peace and allow the millions of people who have been displaced to return to their homes and try to rebuild their lives and a country that has been shattered by civil war, he said. "So we are very hopeful about the prospects for what can be accomplished," Obama said. "But obviously there is a lot of work to be done. I think, rightly, people have been concerned about whether Syria will follow though on the commitments that have been laid forth, and I think there are legitimate concerns as to how technically we are going to be getting those chemical weapons out while there is still fighting going on on the ground." "Nevertheless, this represents essentially a significant step forward, and I think indicates what I had hoped for when I spoke at the United Nations just this week -- that we have an international community that is not just gathering to talk, but also is able to take concerted action on behalf of enforcing international norms and preserving everybody's security, including those in the region and obviously the people of Syria themselves," he said.