Beltway Insider: Syrian’s Assad Challenges Obama; Iranians Elect Moderate Cleric President

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 16 June 2013 17:29

Written by Janet Walker

President Obama has issued his strongest warning yet to Syrian leader Basher al-Assad as the troubled dictator has gathered military support from Russian President Vladimir Putin as he seeks to defend his country.

According to Gallup, President Obama’s job approval, over the past week, remained consistent at 48% of those polled approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President also remained at 44%.

Syrian’s Assad Challenges Obama Administration

The lengthy Syrian civil war has taken a more deadly and concerning turn crossing President Obama’s proverbial red line as Syrian ruler Basher al-Assad has unleashed a new level of terror against rebel forces fighting to have the dictator removed from power.

Through reasonable assessment, Intelligence sources have confirmed the presence, according to a communiqué from Ben Rhodes, Obama’s Deputy National Security Adviser, and the use of Chemical weapons against the civilian population, a direct violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.  

Although the Assad government has not allowed any UN Inspectors into the country, the fatalities directly assessed to Chemical weapon use stands at approximately 150. These facts are being questioned by other governments.

President Obama is being urged by top ranking GOP leaders to arm the Syrian rebels and reassess the Syrian policy quickly.  Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has stated in numerous media outlets the “urgency to arm vetted Syrian opposition groups.”  

Mr. Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary, in a recent press conference stated in response to Senator Corker's public statements urging the president to take decisive action, " We already have provided an enormous amount of assistance to both the Syrian people, through humanitarian assistance, as well as to the opposition."

Carney explained, “The President has been evaluating his policy options on Syria repeatedly for some time.  There are a number of issues that we've discussed here that have to do with the use, potentially, of chemical weapons by the Assad regime and the need to build on the evidence that we have already accumulated, that that in fact has taken place.” 

The escalation of U.S. involvement in assisting the Syrian rebels has been on the president’s agenda for the past two years. The president has continued to condemn, in the strongest possible language, the action of the Assad regime.

Obama has maintained the United States stands on the side of freedom and democracy and has yet to make any additional statements regarding the arming of “vetted Syrian opposition groups.” U.S. troop escalation, while not currently on the agenda, is clearly an option. United States Military Commitments to assist the rebels may come in the form of a Jordanian outpost or other allied installation.

While not directly, the Obama administration has continued to financially support the Syrian rebels. The United States is maintaining a long term humanitarian relief commitment to neighboring Jordan, who borders Syria, and the Jordanian people. President Obama, in his last meeting with King Abdullah, promised an additional 200million of aid to assist the care for the continue influx of refugees fleeing Syria and the Assad regime.

Syrian Rebels, in place since the Arab Spring, have maintained the fight for independence and freedom for approximately two years. Seventeen countries have been affected by the wave of democratic protest that spread throughout the Middle East.  

High profile victories for the Middle East freedom fighters include the removal and trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the recent election of a moderate cleric in Iran. Leaders in Libya, Yemen and Tunisia have also been removed from power.

Syrian citizens are hoping for the same as they continue the fight for a democratic government. Throughout the past two years of rebel uprising over 90,000 Syrians have been murdered by the Assad government.

Assad remains an unpopular, troubled, ruler with surrounding countries including all allies of the United States pressing for him to willingly or through force leave his position.

President Obama has continued to indicate the United States will always be aligned with the people and democracy. The Assad regime has run the country since 1971.

Iranians Elect Moderate Cleric President

Hassan Rouhani, a moderate and highly educated cleric, has won the Iranian election in a stunning upset succeeding the fanatic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rouhani’s election was greeted by world leaders as a fresh change for the troubled nation plagued for decades by extremists and oppression. Rouhani was a late candidate to the Iranian election only announcing his intention on May 7, 2013.

Running on Iranian’s Green Movement and Centrist platform, which called for evolution not revolution, the legal and religious scholar, was able to garner more than the 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.

Of the over 36million Iranians who voted Rouhani received over 18million. His nearest rival, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, name earned just over 6million.

For more information on President Obama: www.whitehouse.gov 

Sources; Gallup, Wikipedia