U.S. backs off deadline for Syria to submit chemical weapons list

After Obama and Kerry emphatically insisting on a concise and precise and quick schedule, it appears the State Department has issued a more lenient position.

They now say there never was a hard and fast deadline !!

I wonder what all the hoopla was all about then ?

Perhaps they simply wanted to continue the civil war efforts without sideshows.

Seems this whole CW issue is quieting down a little. Hmmm.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Russian plan for the removal or destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough just days ago, appeared to run into trouble Wednesday as the Obama administration backed off a deadline for the Syrian government to submit a full inventory of its toxic stockpiles and facilities to international inspectors.

The State Department signaled that it does not expect Syrian President Bashar Assad to produce the list within seven days, as spelled out in the framework deal that Washington and Moscow announced last weekend in Geneva.

Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said Wednesday that “our goal is to see forward momentum” by Saturday, not the full list. “We’ve never said it was a hard and fast deadline.”



U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry had described the deadline as the first of a series of “specific timelines” that would indicate whether Syria is committed to the pact, which demands that Assad's government give up its chemical weapons in exchange for the United States shelving the threat of airstrikes.

U.S. backs off deadline for Syria to submit chemical weapons list

Wasn't it Obama that went on national television and begged the American public to use social media to view the devastation and death caused by these chemical weapons so we could urge our representatives to vote "yes" to bombing Syria?

Naaah, must have been somebody else.

My bad.

reply to post by xuenchen


Based on the fact that the "timeline" has to be voted on by 41 states that make up the Executive Council, it looks like the deadline is going to pass before they all can gather up their paperwork and vote on the timeline. It looks to me like Assad is going to get his 30 days to turn over his list and that inspectors won't be coming into Syria until at least November 14th. Of course we all know that Assad will make sure that he steps up his fighting campaign to slow down the process of inspectors even making their way in, like he always has in the past.

Amazingly enough, it looks like an initial list has already been submitted by Assad and it's in the process of being translated now.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

So Kerry backed off his 'red line' for Syria? Shades of Obama ...
Why make these red lines .. these 'you have to do it by ___' statements?
They look like damn fools ... and so does this country because we voted them in.

reply to post by FlyersFan


For now, Kerry must be grateful that Assad didn't make him look like an utter fool by waiting 30 days to turn over the list. I'm sure we'll hear from Kerry that Assad never would have turned the list over this early if it wasn't for his threats.