JerusalemOnline

On Saturday US President Barack Obama announced his decision that the United States should take limited military action in response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria. He called the attack a threat to US allies Israel, Turkey and Jordan. Obama said that American forces are in the area and he is prepared to give the order, but that he would first seek authorization for the use of force from the US Congress. Obama said the United Nations is completely paralyzed in regards to Syria. He called on the international community to stand up publicly in support of action in Syria, and on the Congress to send a message to the world.

A team of United Nations inspectors left Syria on Saturday, after gathering evidence of a suspected chemical attack that killed over 1400 people, including over 400 children, in Damascus-area suburbs ten days ago. The American government said it had no need to wait for the samples’ test results. US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that the US is certain that Syrian President Bashar Assad is behind the attack.

Despite Israel’s defense establishment’s assurances that the chance of a Syrian attack on Israel is very low, the IDF has increased its readiness in Israel’s north and deployed its missile defense systems. The Hezbollah terror organization has reportedly promised Lebanese President Michel Suleiman it would not attack Israel in the case of a US attack on Syria – unless Israel attacks Lebanon.

Assad’s government and its ally Russia blame Syrian rebels for the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who fears an American military strike would harm Russian interests in Syria, called on US President Barack Obama not to attack Syria, and to present evidence that the Syrian army used chemical weapons. Putin on Saturday called the chemical attack a provocation by those who want to drag other countries into the Syrian conflict.