The US is looking for a “limited narrow act” of military intervention in Syria that does not involve a “boots-on-the-ground approach”, but has not made a final decision yet, President Barack Obama said on Friday.
“We’re not considering any open ended commitment. We’re not considering any boots on the ground approach,” Obama told presspersons in a brief interaction with the leaders of three Baltic countries.
Obama emphasised that he has “not made any decisions” about what actions the US will take.
“We have consulted with allies. We have consulted with Congress,” Obama said after Secretary of State John Kerry indicated that the US is preparing to go it alone without the United Nations, because of Russian opposition.
He noted that lots of people, himself included, are “war weary.”
“There is a certain weariness, given Afghanistan. There is a certain suspicion of any military action post-Iraq. And I very much appreciate that,” Obama said.
“But it’s important for us to recognise that when over a thousand people are killed, including hundreds of innocent children, through the use of a weapon that 98 or 99 per cent of humanity says should not be used even in war, and there is no action, then we’re sending a signal. That is a danger to our national security,” he said.
He said that whatever the US does, it would not be a “major operation”.
“We are confident that we can provide Congress all the information and get all the input they need. We’re very mindful of that...but ultimately we don’t want the world to be paralysed. A lot of people think something should be done but nobody wants to do it,” said the US President.
Noting that the horrific images of the chemical weapons attack have shocked all, Obama said this kind of attack is a challenge to the world.
“We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale,” he said.
“This kind of attack threatens our national security interests by violating well-established international norms against the use of chemical weapons, by further threatening our friends and allies in the region, including Israel and Turkey and Jordan, and it increases the risk that chemical weapons will be used in the future and fall into the hands of terrorists who might use them against us,” he said.