US strike is likely averted

US President Barack Obama has spent the past two weeks trying to make his case for a limited military strike against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons. On Tuesday night, he said he has asked the Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force.

All these is because the US will pursue a diplomatic path after Russia made a proposal to put Syrian chemical weapons under international supervision and ultimately destroy them, according to Obama.

"It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad's strongest allies," Obama said in his 15-minute address to the nation on Tuesday night from the East Room of the White House.

The Russian proposal was made on Monday just hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry said in London that the Assad government could avoid military strikes if it handed over its chemical weapons in a week.

The Syrian government has welcomed the proposal with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem saying that "we fully support Russia's initiative concerning chemical weapons in Syria, and we are ready to cooperate." He also said Syria intends to join the Chemical Weapons Convention as part of the deal.

Obama said he will send Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday while he himself will continue discussion with Russian President Vladmir Putin.

"And we will work together in consultation with Russia and China to put forward a resolution at the UN Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control," Obama said.

But the US President also said he has ordered the US military to maintain their current posture, to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails.

China, which has opposed military strikes against Syria, also applauded the proposal.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday that any proposals that can help ease the current tensions in Syria, solve the crisis politically and safeguard the peace and stability of Syria and the whole region deserve the positive consideration of the international community.

Hong confirmed that a six-person delegation sent by a Syrian opposition organization known as the Syrian National Dialogue Forum started a visit to China on Tuesday.

The delegation, invited by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, will meet officials from the Chinese foreign ministry to discuss the situation in Syria.

"China has always believed that a political resolution was the only practical way out of the Syrian crisis," Hong said. "China has been working on all relevant parties in Syria in a positive and balanced way and making relentless efforts for a political resolution," he said, adding that hosting the Syrian opposition delegation was part of those efforts.

In a phone conversation with Kerry, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi over the weekend, who will visit the US next week, urged Washington to proceed with "extreme caution" on Syria. President Xi Jinping also told Obama at the G20 summit in Russia last week that a military strike could not solve the problem.

On Tuesday, Russian President Putin told reporters that an agreement for Syria to turn over its chemical weapons to international control would only work if the US and its allies renounce the use of force against Damascus.

Syria is one of five countries that have not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. The four others are the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Angola, Egypt and South Sudan.

The new option to ease the Syria crisis came at a time when the Obama administration found itself fighting growing opposition to military strikes from the American public, the Congress and the international community, including many from Obama's own Democrat Party and US allies around the world.

A Pew Center survey released on Monday showed that the share of Americans who oppose US air strikes in Syria has jumped 15 points, from 48 percent to 63 percent, in the past week, as many who were undecided about the issue have turned against military action. A total of 53 percent of Democrats oppose military air strikes against Syria.

A CNN/ORC International survey released Monday showed that 54 percent of Americans polled believe it only "likely but not certain" that the Assad government used chemical weapons.

A White House statement on Monday showed that only 24 countries support its call for a "strong international response" to chemical weapons in Syria. With the exception of probably France, none of them seems to be ready to join in on any US military actions.

Just a day before Obama addressed the nation to sell his plan, he arranged interviews with six TV networks on Monday, the most in a single day since he took office, in a bid to convince the American public for military action.

His cabinet members, such as Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey and National Security Advisor Susan Rice, have been busy in the past days trying to win support both at home and abroad, a mission that has proven extremely difficult.

Obama and his senior officials said the US military threat was critical to forcing the Assad government to change its attitude on chemical weapons. However, Putin revealed that he and Obama had talked about it at the G20 and assigned Kerry and Lavrov to continue exploring a diplomatic solution.

"For this diplomatic option to have a chance of succeeding, the threat of a US military action — the credible, real threat of US military action — must continue," Hagel said on Tuesday in his testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee.

Observers said Russia's proposal would be a win-win situation for both Assad and Western countries, but not so much for the rebels.

While the Syrian government could avoid a devastating military strike and lower the chances of Syrian civilians killed as a result of collateral damage, the Obama administration could also find a face-saving way to drop its military threats in front of the strong opposition both at home and abroad.

Disapproval by the Congress for the limited military action proposed by Obama would undermine his presidential leadership in the coming years, according to analysts.

A New York Times photo last Thursday showing a barbaric scene of rebel forces executing seven Syrian government soldiers went viral on the Internet and US television, prompting many Americans to rethink what type of people a US military strike would support.

An interview by CBS anchorman Charlie Rose with Assad over the weekend also delivered a message rarely heard in US media: Assad claimed that a US strike would be in direct support of al-Qaeda fighting in Syria.

"What do wars give America? Nothing," Assad said. "No political gain, no economic gain, no good reputation. The credibility of the US is at all time low."

Contact the writer at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com