NATION
Page A4 • Thursday, September 12, 2013
How the Syria plan came together By CALVIN WOODWARD The Associated Press WASHINGTON – “We’ve kind of hit a wall,” President Barack Obama commented last week on his way to Russia. He meant his relationship with Moscow, but the remark came to apply as well to other leaders abroad, lawmakers at home and Americans at large, all standing in the way of what he wanted to do about Syria, which was to attack it. Just days later, military action is on hold, a diplomatic effort to have Syria turn over its chemical weapons has some steam and Obama no longer looks so terribly alone. The potential way out took shape with an episode akin to palace intrigue: Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin pulling up chairs in a corner of a stately room at the summer home of Peter the Great. And it grew from there. A look at how the past days’ parallel tracks unfolded:
Summit stirrings Obamapressedhiscasewith world leaders at the Group of 20 summit last Thursday night. His pitch slipped past midnight on a night capped by St. Petersburg fireworks at 2 a.m. After Friday’s round of meetings, the burden of a looming military strike in retaliation for Syrian chemical weapons use and the lack of explicit support from summit partners weighed visibly on the president when he addressed the traveling press corps. With plenty of U.S.-Russian tensions simmering – over Syria, Moscow’s sheltering of former NSA leaker Edward Snowden and more – Obama decided there would be no formal one-on-one with Putin. But the Russian leader, the Syrian government’s leading patron on the world stage, approached him Friday and they pulled
chairs together off to the side. They launched into a 20-minute discussion about Syria, and Putin broached an idea that the two leaders had first discussed a year ago at the G-20 summit in Mexico – an international agreement to secure Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.
The arm-twisting Since Aug. 23, administration officials have had discussions about Syria with more than 370 House members and nearly all senators, according to the White House count. The pace picked up on the weekend and into Monday, as members of Congress returned from a summer break that had kept many of them engaged on Syria only from afar. Back in Washington lawmakers were shown a collection of videos, also released publicly, showing victims of the Aug. 21 chemical attacks that the U.S. blames on Assad’s forces. There were repeated presentations of those videos, to bring home the brutality of gassing, although they did not prove who was responsible. Nothing seemed to be working. More and more lawmakers stepped forward to declare their opposition to military strikes. The dynamics – for and against military action – were strikingly bipartisan.
Diplomacy breaks out On Monday morning, Secretary of State John Kerry, in London, held a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, greeted outside by 50 protesters chanting, “Keep your hands off Syria.” “I think it would be good to hear people saying to a dictator, ‘Keep your hands off chemical weapons that kill your own people,’ ” Kerry retorted. On the flight home, Kerry spoke on the phone with
Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. Lavrov told Kerry he had heard his comments in London and Russia was getting ready to make an announcement. By the time Kerry landed in the U.S., Russia had made its proposal to place Syrian chemical weapons out of Assad’s control, Syria had welcomed the idea, other nations and the United Nations had embraced it in principle, and some members of Congress were beginning to see a possible way out of the jam. Kerry’s staff initially suggested that the secretary’s words were merely a rhetorical flourish. But by the end of the day, though expressing deep skepticism, Obama declared the Russian pitch “potentially a significant breakthrough” that could head off U.S. air strikes. Obama’s address to the nation Tuesday night wasn’t the trumpet call to action that it might have been, absent the diplomatic initiative on Syrian chemical weapons. His statement reflected the complexities of the moment – a chance to avoid war, as he saw it, but a continuing need for congressional approval to keep a credible military threat alive. Until recently, the Senate had been expected to conduct an initial vote Wednesday, beginning an arduous legislative process to be echoed in coming days in the House, where opposition to a military strike has been an even tougher sell. Instead it was dither and defer, at least for a while longer, with everyone treading carefully. Any resolution on Syria was on hold on Capitol Hill. “The whole terrain has changed,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said after a meeting of Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We want to make sure we do nothing that’s going to derail what’s going on.”
Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com
Nation pauses on 9/11 to pay tribute to victims The ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK – Life in lower Manhattan resembled any ordinary day on Wednesday as workers rushed to their jobs in the muggy heat, but time stood still at the World Trade Center site while families wept for loved ones who perished in the terror attacks 12 years ago. For the families, the memories of that day are still vivid, the pain still acute. Some who read the names of a beloved big brother or a cherished daughter could hardly speak through their tears. “Has it really been 12 years? Or 12 days? Sometimes it feels the same,” said Michael Fox, speaking aloud to his brother, Jeffrey, who perished in the south tower. “Sometimes I reach for the phone so I can call you, and we can talk about our kids like we used to do every day.” On the memorial plaza overlooking two reflecting pools in the imprint of the twin towers, relatives recited the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died when hijacked jets crashed into the towers, the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Pa. They also recognized the victims of the 1993 trade center bombing. Bells tolled to mark the planes hitting the towers and the moments when the skyscrapers fell. In Washington, President Barack Obama, first lady
AP photo
Carrie Bergonia of Pennsylvania looks at the name of her fiancé, firefighter Joseph Ogren, at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies Wednesday marking the 12th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden walked out to the White House’s South Lawn for a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. – the time the first plane struck the south tower in New York. Another jetliner struck the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. “Our hearts still ache for the futures snatched away, the lives that might have been,” Obama said. A moment of silence was also held at the U.S. Capitol. In New York, loved ones milled around the memorial site, making rubbings of names, putting flowers by the names of victims and weeping, arm-in-arm. Former Gov. George Pataki, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and others were in attendance. As with last year, no politicians spoke. Mayor Michael Bloomberg watched the cer-
emony for his final time in office. Carol Eckna recalled the contagious laugh of her son, Paul Robert Eckna, who was killed in the north tower. “Just yesterday, you were 28,” she said. “Today, you are 40. You are forever young.” The anniversary arrived amid changes at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, where construction started Tuesday on a new visitor center. On Wednesday, the families of the passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93 recalled their loved ones as heroes for their unselfish and quick actions. The plane was hijacked with the likely goal of crashing it into the White House or Capitol, but passengers tried to overwhelm the attackers and the plane crashed into the field. All aboard died.
DISCOVER A GOOD NIGHT’S
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Enjoy an elegant evening on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 as we honor our Best Under 40 award recipients and celebrate their achievements. The Best Under 40 award is given to McHenry County professionals under the age of 40 who have made significant contributions to their profession, company and community.
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