US President Barack Obama is using his last day in Europe to renew his quest for foreign support for a US military strike in Syria, but three days after he left Washington, it is unclear whether the global coalition the president has been seeking is any closer to becoming a reality.
China’s a firm no. The EU is skeptical about whether any military action can be effective. Even Pope Francis weighed in, urging leaders gathered in St Petersburg, Russia, to abandon what he called a “futile mission.”
Still, Obama was undeterred. As the president pressed his case on the world stage, he was dispatching US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power to a Washington think tank to argue that the global community cannot afford the precedent of letting chemical weapons use go unpunished.
Photo: Reuters
Yet even as Obama sought the global buy-in that could legitimize a potential strike, his aides were careful to temper expectations that the world community could speak with one voice.
US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the president was not asking his peers to pledge their own militaries to a US-led strike, but simply to say they agree a military response is warranted.
“We don’t expect every country here to agree with that position,” Rhodes said yesterday at the G20 summit, where Obama was huddling with foreign leaders.
Standing on Russian soil, Rhodes suggested that the US had given up hope that Russia — a stalwart Syria ally — could be coerced into changing its position.
“We don’t expect to have Russian cooperation,” he said.
A key status update was to come later yesterday when Obama, his diplomatic dexterity pushed to the max, was to be quizzed by reporters in the waning hours of the summit.
A jobs-and-growth agenda awaiting world leaders gathering at the ornate Constantine Palace quickly gave way to intense posturing over Syria — at least on the surface. The leaders served up Syria as dinner conversation on Thursday at the suggestion of the summit’s host, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian leader has steadfastly backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and disputes claims that al-Assad’s regime was behind chemical attacks that the US says killed more than 1,400 Syrians. Other estimates are lower.
Syria dominated the nearly three-hour meal, with leaders condemning the use of chemical weapons, but reaching no consensus about the proper response, a French official said.
Many leaders at the dinner remained in doubt about whether al-Assad’s regime was behind the attack, said the official, who was not authorized to be publicly named according to presidential policy.
So too was the Syrian crisis a prevailing theme in Obama’s individual meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the summit. The White House said Obama conferred on Syria on Thursday evening with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strong supporter of airstrikes against the nation on its southern border. Syria also came up on yesterday when Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), whose government has warned vigorously against the use of force.
Before his scheduled return to Washington later yesterday, Obama was to meet with French President Francois Hollande, his strongest ally on Syria and a vocal advocate for military intervention.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from