Post by peterd on Sept 11, 2013 8:01:41 GMT -8
Syria prompts Europe to question US leadership will
PARIS — The United States’ uncertainty over how to respond to a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria has left close European allies wondering whether Washington remains ready to play the world leadership role it has long assumed.
Yet while the hesitations are creating political headaches for governments in Britain and France that advocated strikes, less interventionist capitals including Berlin are relieved to be dealing with a less hawkish US administration than those which pushed the case for war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After the August 21 chemical weapons attack that Washington blames on Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s forces, US President Barack Obama has veered from calling for urgent retaliation to agreeing to seek authorisation from a sceptical Congress with no real clear time frame attached.
jordantimes.com/syria-prompts-europe-to-question-us-leadership-will
PARIS — The United States’ uncertainty over how to respond to a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria has left close European allies wondering whether Washington remains ready to play the world leadership role it has long assumed.
Yet while the hesitations are creating political headaches for governments in Britain and France that advocated strikes, less interventionist capitals including Berlin are relieved to be dealing with a less hawkish US administration than those which pushed the case for war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After the August 21 chemical weapons attack that Washington blames on Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s forces, US President Barack Obama has veered from calling for urgent retaliation to agreeing to seek authorisation from a sceptical Congress with no real clear time frame attached.
jordantimes.com/syria-prompts-europe-to-question-us-leadership-will