Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, at Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit during a demonstration against US war threats on Syria. (Photo: Valerie Jean), a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
August 31, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Local reaction is mixed on Obama's decision to get congressional approval to strike Syria
Lauren Abdel-Razzaq
The Detroit News
President Barack Obama announcement Saturday that he intends to seek congressional approval before launching an attack on Syria has led to a backlash from Syrian Americans and activists across Metro Detroit.
Some say the president’s decision to possibly intervene is a poor decision, and others say he is not doing enough quickly enough.
“I think it’s a major distraction from the major business Congress should be dealing with,” said Abayomi Azikiwe, an organizer and activist with the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice.
“I think it will be for the worse because Syria has close ties to Russia and the people of the U.S. are not in favor of this unilateral action.”
United Nations experts are investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria as the United States and its allies prepare for the possibility of a punitive strike against President Bashar Assad’s regime, blamed by the Syrian opposition for the attack. The international aid group Doctors Without Borders says at least 355 people were killed in the Aug. 21 attack.
The U.S., Britain and France blame Assad’s regime for the alleged chemical weapons attack on rebel-held suburbs of Damascus. The Syrian government denies the allegations, saying rebels staged the attack to frame the regime. This week, the UN and Britain voted not to intervene
Assad vowed Thursday that “Syria will defend itself” against Western military strikes.
With Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea ready to strike, Obama said he had decided the United States should take military action, but also determined “our country will be better off” if Congress renders its own opinion.
At the same time, he challenged lawmakers to consider “what message will we send to a dictator” if he is allowed to killed hundreds of children with chemical weapons without suffering any retaliation.
Leith Fadel, a Syrian American organizer with the Syrian American Forum said he wasn’t surprised by the president’s decision to take action, but hoped it would be one of diplomacy.
“I think it’s a terrible idea putting any American lives on the line in a civil war that has been going on for the past year,” he said. “It would have no benefit for the U.S. and no benefit for the Syrian people.”
Lawmakers will return to session on Sept. 9 and Speaker of House John Boehner said Congress would tackle the question of Syria then.
That’s not good enough for Syrian American activist Abdullah Haydar, who says he was hoping to see some kind of direct action in Syria such as the establishment of a no-fly zone or a safe zone for civilians.
“It’s clear certain things wouldn’t work very well, like boots on the ground, when our soldiers can’t tell who is the enemy,” said the Canton resident whose family has had to flee parts of Syria. “But (Obama) is so afraid of repeating the legacy of his predecessor that he’s showing moral cowardice.”
He said waiting for Congress is unacceptable because, “it’s as if a couple more weeks of people getting killed is OK.”
“The president is looking the other way when there is clear brutality going on,” he said.
lrazzaq@detroitnews.com
(313) 222-2127
Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130831/METRO08/308300123#ixzz2deXbBG6Y
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