US Threatened Syria to Gain Leverage: Analyst
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian analyst and journalist said the US threats to strike Syria were meant to coerce President Bashar al-Assad into succumbing to western demands, arguing that Washington was in no position to wage another war in the region.
“The issue of war by the US is rather a pretext to put pressure on Syria and is a leverage to make the Syrian government succumb to the West’s demands,” Mohammad Ali Asgari told Tasnim on Saturday.
Asgari further added that the US is incapable of waging a military strike against Syria, because the White House is grappling with a lot of problems.
US President Barack Obama had threatened the use of force in response to an August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria that US officials say killed more than 1000 people. Washington has blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for the attack, while Russia and Syria say it was the work of rebel forces.
Obama was first supposed to order military attack against Syria just after the chemical attack. Then, he changed his mind and went to Congress, as polled showed most US people were against military engagement in Syria and his plan hit resistance in Congress. But later Obama decided to go along with the Russian proposal to place Syrian chemical weapons under international supervision.
last Saturday, American and Russian top diplomats agreed Saturday on a deal in geneva to secure and destroy Syria's chemical weapons. The accord called for the Syrian government to account for its chemical arsenal within a week and let international inspectors eliminate it all by the middle of 2014.
