NATION & WORLD
Page A4 • Saturday, September 7, 2013
Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com
Obama, Putin continue divide on action in Syria By JULIE PACE and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV The Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Beset by divisions at home and abroad, President Barack Obama candidly acknowledged deep challenges Friday in pursuing support for a military strike against Syria from international allies and the U.S. Congress. He refused to say whether he might act on his own, a step that could have major implications for the U.S. as well as for the remainder of his presidency. The White House laid out an intense week of lobbying, with Obama addressing the nation from the White House Tuesday night. “I did not put this before Congress just as a political ploy or as symbolism,” Obama said, adding that it would be a mistake to talk about any backup strategy before lawmakers vote on a use-of-force resolution. The president spoke to reporters at the end of a two-day international summit, where he sought backing for a strike against Syria in retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack against civilians. But Obama appeared to leave the
“The use of force against a sovereign nation is only possible as self-defense – and Syria hasn’t attacked the United States – and on approval of the U.N. Security Council. Those who do otherwise place themselves outside the law.” Vladimir Putin President of Russia
summit with no more backing than he had when he arrived. In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, said he was the one with support from the majority of countries attending the Group of 20 meeting. Putin insisted anew that Obama seek approval from the United Nations before taking military action, despite the fact that Russia has blocked previous Security Council efforts to punish Assad throughout Syria’s bloody 2½-year civil war. The White House tried to
counter Putin’s assessment by releasing a joint statement from the U.S. and 10 other countries announcing support for “efforts undertaken by the United States” to enforce an international prohibition on chemical weapons use. The statement did not specify military action against Syria, but administration officials said the intent was to show international support for that type of response. The countries signing the statement with the U.S. were Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Putin said the U.S. push for military action has been supported only by Turkey, Canada, Saudi Arabia and France. “The use of force against a sovereign nation is only possible as self-defense – and Syria hasn’t attacked the United States – and on approval of the U.N. Security Council,” Putin said. “Those who do otherwise place themselves outside the law.” Indeed, Obama’s coalition appeared anything but strong. Britain’s Parliament has already voted against military action. Even French President Francois Hollande, who has
AP photo
U.S. President Barack Obama answers questions Friday during his news conference at the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. expressed willingness to form a military coalition with the U.S. against Syria, displayed sudden caution, saying he
would wait until a United Nations investigation into the Aug. 21 sarin gas attack was released before deciding
whether to intervene militarily. The U.N. report is not expected to be released until mid-to late-September.
Use of blue disabled placards NASA ready to launch unmanned up in many cities across U.S. robotic explorer to moon from Va. By MARCIA DUNN
By STEVEN DUBOIS
The Associated Press
The Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. – A blue placard dangling from the rear-view mirror is the equivalent of parking gold for drivers in many cities – they can park for free and for as long as they want. Now there’s a gold rush on for them. And as the number of vehicles displaying a disabled placard has soared with an aging population and loosened eligibility standards, cities are seeing the impact in more congested downtowns and the loss of millions of dollars in revenue. Now, officials are pushing back, tightening standards for those who can get the placards and making sure that the only people who get the privilege are those who really need it. “It was astonishing to see car after car after car with the disabled placard,” said Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick, who is seeking a solution to the problem in a city with a reputation for bicycling and mass transit but
AP photo
City commissioner Steve Novick stands next to a car in downtown Portland, Ore. that uses a disabled placard to park for free without a time limit on Thursday. still reliant on the car. In the city’s annual survey of roughly 9,000 downtown meters, just over 1,000 vehicles had disabled placards in October 2012, a 72 percent increase in five years. In the core area of downtown, a third of the vehicles had placards. As a result, Portland lost an estimated $2.4 million in
meter revenue last year, and the lack of turnover frustrates store owners, deprives the severely disabled of spaces near their destination and forces drivers to circle blocks in search of a spot. Authorities issued 186 citations for unlawful use of a permit the fiscal year ending June 30, but believe there is more abuse.
NASA is poised to return to the moon. An unmanned rocket is scheduled to blast off late Friday night from Virginia’s Eastern Shore with a robotic explorer that will study the lunar atmosphere and dust. Called LADEE, the moon-orbiting craft will measure the thin lunar atmosphere. Scientists want to learn the composition of the moon’s ever-so-delicate atmosphere and how it might change over time. Another puzzle: whether dust actually levitates from the lunar
surface. Unlike the quick threeday Apollo flights to the moon, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, will take a full month to get there. An Air Force Minotaur rocket, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., is providing the ride from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. It’s the first moonshot from Virginia. All but one of NASA’s approximately 40 moon missions, including the manned Apollo flights of the late 1960s and early 1970s, originated from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The most recent were the twin Grail spacecraft launched two years ago. The lone exception, Clementine, a military-NASA venture, rocketed away from Southern California in 1994. The soaring Minotaur rocket should be visible along much of the East Coast – as far south as South Carolina, as far north as Maine and as far west as Pittsburgh. The $280 million mission will last six months and end with a suicide plunge into the moon for LADEE, which is about the size of a small car.
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