As the US Congress gets ready to discuss President Obama’s plans for military strikes on Syria today, lobbying by pro and anti-war groups has reached its crescendo in print, electronic and the social media. President Obama would appear in an interview on six of the America's largest news networks to try and sell his military plan of action in Syria. He is scheduled to make a nationwide address from the White House tomorrow. Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in an interview to a US TV Channel is said to have denied that his regime had anything to do with the chemical weapon attack against his own people. More from our West Asia Correspondent:-
Those in favour of US led military strikes say that the Syrian regime must be punished for the use of chemical weapons which led to death of more than 1400 civilians on the outskirts of Damascus on August14. They point out that there are substantial evidences to prove that Assad regime was behind the attack. Besides the credibility of US will be at stake if no such strike is launched after so much of hype about it. The anti-war lobby says no military action can be authorized without the permission of UN Security Council. Hence US must wait for the UN inspector’s report who are analyzing the samples collected from the chemical weapons attack sites in Syria. Analysts point out that the UN inspectors can only tell whether the chemical weapons were used in Syria but not who used them. Then there are apprehensions that by launching military strikes, US will be seen joining hands with jihadist elements like Al Nusra front and Al qaeda militants who have made gains in Syria.
Meanwhile, Reports from Syria say, the mood is heavy and people are bracing themselves up for military strikes any time. Security forces are preparing for the eventuality and Syrians are storing food and fuel in anticipation of strikes. Meanwhile Iran’s foreign minister Javed Zarif told in Baghdad that U.S. intervention in Syria can spill over to the region while his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari said Iraq will not be a base for any attack nor will it facilitate any such attack on Syria. Turkey has deployed additional troops and stationed jet fighters in alert mode along its south eastern borders with Syria. Israel has deployed Iron Dome missile defense battery in the outskirts of Jerusalem to destroy any rocket launches by Syria or the Hezbollah in case of a possible US led strikes. It has also put in place air defense systems along the Syrian border , drafted reserve soldiers and is handing out gas masks.
