The list of countries ready to form a
coalition for action against Syria is growing, according
to the US Secretary of State John Kerry. He said that
Arab nations had even offered to pay for any strikes.
"We are building support with … other countries,
among them the Arab League," Secretary Kerry said,
as the US administration tried to sell its plan for
military action to punish Syria for its use of chemical
weapons.
"Specific countries that have talked in terms of
acting" were "Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qataris, the
Turks and the French."
The pressure on Syria intensified after an alleged
chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb in
August 2013, which, reportedly claimed over 1,400
lives.
John Kerry also told the American lawmaker that the
United States had reached out to more than 100
countries already and 57 had agreed chemical
weapons were used, and 37 of them had said so
publicly.
The President of the USA, Barack Obama, has insisted
that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
has crossed a red line against the use of chemical
weapons and should be punished and his military
capability degraded.
"Thirty-one countries or organizations have stated
publicly or privately that the Assad regime is
responsible for this attack, and that was before our
evidence package was put together," Secretary of the
State Kerry said.
"And 34 countries or organizations have indicated
that if the allegations prove to be true, they would
support some form of action against Syria."
He even suggested the United States had too many
offers of help as he sought for a second day to
persuade US lawmakers to back Obama's plan for
limited missile strikes against the Syrian regime.
"A number of them have asked to be part of a military
operation," he said.
"The Turks, a NATO country, have condemned it,
pinned it on Assad, asked to be part of an operation.
"The French have volunteered to be part of an
operation. There are others who have volunteered. But
frankly … we got more volunteers that we can use for
this kind of an operation," Kerry said.
"With respect to Arab countries offering to bear the
cost and to assist, the answer is profoundly yes, they
have. That offer is on the table," Kerry, adding it was
"quite significant."
"Some of them have said that if the United States is
prepared to go do the whole thing the way we've done
it previously in other places, they'll carry that cost.
That's how dedicated they are to this."
But he stressed: "Obviously, that is not in the cards
and nobody is talking about it, but they are talking
about taking seriously getting this job done."
He was appearing before the House Foreign Affairs
committee on the second day of the administration's
blitz on Capitol hill to persuade lawmakers to approve
limited military strikes against Syria.
In a sign of public opposition to the plan, anti-war
demonstrators held up red-stained hands behind
Kerry's head in a silent protest as he spoke.
Lawmakers are now drafting a resolution to go before
Congress which would give the US administration a
60-day deadline for military intervention, which could
be extended once for 30 more days. It would also bar
any American boots on the ground.
Asked if the time limit was acceptable to
administration, Kerry said it would be preferable to
have "a trigger in there" if Assad used chemical
weapons again.
He indicated that a move to give the White House a
further 60 days every time such arms were used
would be acceptable.