I'm going to copy Cameron! Drama as Obama vows to bomb Syria - but only after U.S. vote (and suddenly Britain is his 'closest ally' again)

• President Obama has said the US should take military action against Syria
• But he wants to put plans to a vote in Congress before launching attack
• Decision throws political lifeline to humiliated David Cameron
• Source close to the PM says it 'vindicates' his choice to go to Commons
• UN weapons inspectors left the war-torn country this morning
• They have taken samples of evidence to be analysed

Barack Obama last night threw David Cameron a political lifeline by following his lead in giving US politicians the chance to veto air strikes on Syria.
In an unprecedented move, the President said he was determined to bomb Syria – but not until Congress voted on the matter.
In theory, as Commander-in-Chief of US forces, he could ignore any Congress vote against military action, but having invited them to do so it is considered highly unlikely.

President Obama has declared the US should take military action against Bashar Al-Assad's regime

Speaking at the White House rose garden, President Obama said he would seek congressional backing for any intervention

The Syrian army restarted its barrage on the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus just two minutes after President Obama finished his speech threatening air strikes. The attacks had stopped five hours earlier.
Regime forces also immediately ‘intensified’ attacks on Aleppo in Northern Syria.
But on the streets of Damascus, those opposing Assad reacted with fury and disbelief that US intervention was not imminent.
‘What did we go through all that for?’ asked one woman. ‘Assad is victorious.’

 

Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Mr Obama referred directly to Mr Cameron’s decision to allow MPs to vote on the issue and again referred to Britain as America’s ‘closest ally’.
Mr Cameron’s gamble backfired when Labour leader Ed Miliband, backed by Tory and Lib Dem rebels, inflicted a shock defeat, keeping Britain out of the conflict.
Tory MPs feared the vote had inflicting a devastating blow to Mr Cameron’s standing at home and abroad – and to the Anglo-US ‘special relationship.’
But Mr Obama’s extraordinary decision to emulate Mr Cameron, immediately hailed by the Prime Minister’s supporters as ‘a huge compliment’, could turn the tables on Mr Miliband, who believed he had scored a notable success.

As UN inspectors crossed the border from Syria into Lebanon, they were followed out of the war-torn country by a continuous flow of families

Within minutes of Mr Obama’s statement, a relieved Mr Cameron tweeted: ‘I understand and support Barack Obama’s position on #Syria.’
And Foreign Secretary William Hague tweeted: ‘A fine speech by the President of the United States on #Syria.’
The extraordinary development from Washington came at the end of Mr Cameron’s worst week in No 10 since winning power in 2010.
The Prime Minister was widely criticised for misjudging his plan to support US plans to punish the Syrian regime after the massacre of hundreds of civilians near Damascus. According to US intelligence reports, 1,429 people were killed by chemical weapons on August 21, including hundreds of children.

The Prime Minister quickly took to Twitter to endorse the president's approach

Mr Obama’s warm praise for Britain came only 24 hours after the White House had called France, which has backed the military action, as its ‘oldest ally’. In one sentence, Mr Obama appears to have restored the old order.
Mr Obama’s comments about the need for a democratic vote on strikes against Syria echoed almost word-for-word Mr Cameron’s  justification for asking MPs to support him.
Flanked by Vice-President Joe Biden, the President said that he remained convinced military action against Assad was needed and that there was no need to wait for the  UN weapons inspectors to report on the massacre.
Then he explained why he was taking the same democratic course as Mr Cameron: ‘Many people have advised against taking this decision to Congress and undoubtedly they were impacted by what we saw happen in the United Kingdom this week when the Parliament of our closest ally failed to pass a resolution with a similar goal, even as the Prime Minister supported taking action.
'Yet, while I believe I have the authority to carry out this action without specific congressional authorisation I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course and our actions will be even more effective.’
A source close to Mr Cameron said: ‘We are delighted the president has done this. It vindicates the Prime Minister completely.’

President Obama revealed advisers had cautioned against going to Congress, particularly in light of the Commons defeat David Cameron suffered

Mr Obama said:  ‘We saw terrible images of the dead. All told 1,000 people were murdered including several hundred children. Young boys and girls were gassed to death by their own government. This was an assault on human dignity and a serious danger to security.’
Mr Obama assured the US public: ‘We will not put boots on the ground’ but said the US was ‘prepared to strike whenever we choose’.
He added, ‘I know well that we are weary of war. That is why we’re not contemplating putting our troops in the middle [of a civil war]. But we cannot and must not turn a blind eye to actions in Damascus.’

Where could they strike? This map of Syria highlights the main strategic towns in the strife-torn country

Target Damascus: Locations within the Syrian capital that would likely bear the brunt of an attack

However Vladimir Putin yesterday dismissed claims that Syria used chemical weapons as ‘nonsense’ and challenged the United States to provide proof before launching air strikes.
The Russian President insisted that if Washington had evidence Bashar Assad’s forces ‘used weapons of mass destruction’ it should be presented to the United Nations.
But Mr Putin said: ‘If they say that the [Syrian] governmental forces used weapons of mass destruction… and that they have proof of it, let them present it to the UN inspectors and the UN security council.
‘Claims that the proof exists, but is classified and cannot be presented to anybody, are below criticism.’
There was no immediate response to Mr Putin’s intervention from the White House.

A UN convoy of vehicles, carrying the UN team of inspectors, crosses into Lebanon from Syria, at the Lebanese border crossing point of Masnaa, eastern Bekaa valley, Lebanon

UN weapons inspectors arrive at the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, in The Hague, in the Netherlands

President Obama said he was 'comfortable going forward without the approval of a United Nations Security Council' that had so far been 'unwilling to hold Assad accountable'

The President faces an uphill battle to get Congressional permission to attack Syria. As it stands, the Republican-controlled lower House of Representatives will almost certainly deny permission while the Democratically-controlled Senate might give him a reluctant go ahead.
Some Washington-based analysts said last night that Mr Obama could suffer the same humiliation as Mr Cameron – and lose the vote.
His decision to delay military was criticized by Syria’s main opposition party, the Syrian National Coalition.
A spokesman said: ‘I am surprised that the President said he has the legal authority and the moral responsibility to respond but then to pass this on to Congress. 
‘The people of Syria will feel that this is inaction.
‘This is a failure of leadership on the President’s part.
‘I thought this announcement was to tell the whole world that he is going to punish this brutal regime and let them know they cannot use chemical weapons against their own people.’
But last night Syria’s prime minister Wael al-Halqi said his country was prepared for US military action. He said: ‘The Syrian army is fully ready, its finger on the trigger to face any challenge or scenario that they want to carry out.’