Obama says U.S. cannot turn blind eye to Syria crisis

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Obama says U.S. cannot turn blind eye to Syria crisis

(Xinhua) 09:30, September 08, 2013

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 -- President Barack Obama said Saturday the United States could not turn a blind eye to Syria, where its government forces reportedly used chemical weapons in an attack near its capital of Damascus.

Obama made the remarks in his weekly radio and interned address published on the White House website, as he was stepping up a lobbying campaign for Congressional support of a military strike on Syria.

Obama was supposed to make a national televised address on Tuesday, taking the military action directly to the Americans.

The president stressed that the military action would not be open-ended intervention nor involve any "American boots on the ground."

"Any action we take would be limited, both in time and scope - designed to deter the Syrian government from gassing its own people again and degrade its ability to do so," he said.

"I know that the American people are weary after a decade of war ... But we are the United States of America. We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria," he added.

Washington has held the Syrian government responsible for perpetrating the Aug. 21 attack in the suburbs of Damascus, which U.S. intelligence report claims killed 1,429 people, including 426 children.

Obama said failing to take military action against Syria would pose a serious threat to the U.S. national security.

He said his decision of using military force was not made "lightly," while asking "members of Congress to debate this issue and vote on authorizing the use of force."

Congress sources said that there will be a full vote on the military action next week in the Senate while the House may vote within the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet with European foreign ministers Saturday to drum up support for strikes on Syria.

（Editor：DuMingming、Zhang Qian）