September 11, 2013 15:56
by Pesach Benson
President Obama took his case for Syrian intervention to the public in a national address (video/transcript).
See also the Wall St. Journal, which rounded up the highlights of the president’s six network interviews.
Fallout from the Russian initiative: According to Israeli media reports, when Moscow told Bashar Assad to give up its chemical weapons, the Russians sweetened the deal with a promise to bolster conventional arms sales. Syrian opposition figures bitterly opposed the compromise, some going so far as to call it a dirty deal benefiting only Israel, not them. Then there’s this from the Washington Times:
President Bashar Assad likely does not have complete control over Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons — one of the world’s largest — which is dispersed across the country and believed to have been shared with its allies, including the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, analysts say.
Vladimir Putin enjoys throwing his weigh around:
Russia to offer Iran S-300 missiles, new nuclear reactor
The Syrian Situation
• For the first time since the chemical weapons crisis, the Syrian air force attacked rebel areas around Damascus. Rebels told Reuters this is a sign that Assad no longer feels international pressure.
• I’m relieved to be reminded that real Syrian moderates aren’t extinct. “Amin Muhammed” wants to launch a moderate, pro-Western political party that would normalize relations with Israel. He shared his vision with the Jerusalem Post.
Source material can be found at this site.
