Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry (US secretary of State John Kerry (AFP Photo/Alastair Grant/Pool - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
SitiWanMahani - Kerry memberikan Syria 7 hari untuk melepaskan senjata kimia. Setiausaha Negara John Kerry mengatakan hari Isnin bahawa Presiden Syria Bashar Al ‘Assad mempunyai 1 minggu untuk melepaskan senjata terhadap senjata kimia atau lain menjadi sasaran serangan tentera Amerika Syarikat.
Menjawab kepada pemberita pada sidang akhbar di London awal Isnin, Encik Kerry ditawarkan kata yang memerlukan pemimpin Syria untuk menyerahkan apa sahaja yang kekal bahan kimia dilaporkan simpanan senjata untuk mengelakkan serangan dari Amerika Syarikat.
“Pasti, dia boleh berubah atas setiap bit tunggal senjata kimia kepada masyarakat antarabangsa pada minggu depan - menjadikan ia banyak, semua itu tanpa berlengah-lengah dan membenarkan perakaunan penuh dan jumlahnya, tetapi dia kira-kira tidak untuk melakukannya dan ia tidak boleh dilakukan, “kata Kerry pada sidang akhbar itu.
Menurut Reuters, Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat berkata Kerry telah membuat hujah yang retorik. Sebagai penggubal undang-undang di Washington bersedia untuk menimbang dalam sama ada atau tidak membenarkan penggunaan kuasa tentera terhadap Assad, bagaimanapun, serangan Amerika Syarikat ke atas kerajaan Assad kekal kemungkinan yang amat nyata.
White House dan ahli-ahli berpangkat tinggi Kongres sama telah berkali-kali menggesa ahli-ahli politik Amerika untuk ‘sign-off’ pada serangan bertujuan untuk teguran Assad untuk kegunaan yang didakwa beliau senjata kimia di luar Damsyik pada 21 Ogos. Pegawai-pegawai Amerika Syarikat berkata lebih daripada 1,400 orang Syria telah diserang dgn gas beracun kepada kematian semasa serangan itu, walaupun Pres. Assad masih berkeras bahawa dia tidak bertanggungjawab.
Presiden Barack Obama dan Encik Kerry berkata mereka mahu serangan tentera terhad terhadap Assad untuk menunjukkan bahawa Amerika Syarikat tidak akan bertolak ansur dengan penggunaan senjata kimia terhadap orang awam. Setiausaha negeri dijangka memberi taklimat kepada Kongres pada hari Isnin selepas pulang dari UK, dan Pres. Obama akan menangani negara itu dalam satu kenyataan di televisyen petang berikutnya.
Sebelum meninggalkan London, Sec. Kerry berkata, “Kami akan dapat memegang Bashar Al ‘Assad bertanggungjawab tanpa melibatkan diri dalam tentera di atas darat atau apa-apa jenis lain yang berpanjangan usaha dalam sangat disasarkan, sangat usaha jangka pendek yang sangat terhad yang mempersendakan keupayaannya untuk menyampaikan senjata kimia tanpa menganggap tanggungjawab untuk perang saudara di Syria.”
Di tengah-tengah kebimbangan bahawa campur tangan dalam konflik dalaman akan melancarkan Amerika Syarikat ke perang yang lain, Kerry menambah bahawa White House tidak mahu lebih daripada “jenis kecil unbelievably, terhad usaha.” Di luar Washington, walaupun, penggunaan kuasa tentera kekal sebahagian besarnya yang tidak diingini.
Menurut keputusan pungutan suara CNN dijalankan pada hujung minggu, 59% peratus rakyat Amerika berkata mereka menentang serangan ketenteraan di Syria, dan hampir 3 merangkak daripada mereka yang ditinjau berkata serangan udara tidak akan mencapai “matlamat penting” untuk Amerika Syarikat.
Sementara itu, penyokong campur tangan mengatakan mereka adalah lebih pasti berbanding sebelum ini yang diluluskan Assad serangan bulan lalu. Kerry mendakwa bahawa seluruh masyarakat perisikan Amerika Syarikat kini percaya Assad mengarahkan serangan senjata kimia, dan berkata, hanya 3 orang - Assad, salah satu daripada saudara-saudaranya dan senior general - yang bertanggungjawab.
Assad memberitahu CBS News pada hari Ahad bahawa Amerika harus “mengharapkan setiap tindakan” jika serangan diperintahkan di Washington. Keesokan harinya, Kerry berkata Presiden Syria , “Ini adalah seorang lelaki tanpa kredibiliti.”
Kenyataan Kerry di London yang dibuat dalam penampilan bersama dengan William Hague, Menteri Luar British. “Kerajaan kami menyokong objektif untuk memastikan bahawa tidak ada sewenang-wenangnya untuk kegunaan pertama peperangan kimia pada abad ke-21,” kata Encik Hague semasa presser itu “Sebagai masyarakat antarabangsa, kita mesti menghalang serangan lagi dan memegang mereka yang bertanggungjawab untuk mereka yang bertanggungjawab.”
Kerry gives Syria One Week to Relinquish Chemical Weapons
Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has one week to give up his arsenal of chemical weapons or else become the target of a US military strike.
Answering to a reporter during a press conference in London early Monday, Mr. Kerry offered an ultimatum which would require the Syrian leader to turn over whatever remains of a reported chemical weapons stockpile in order to avoid an attack from the United States.
"Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week - turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting, but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done," Kerry said at the press conference.
According to Reuters, the US State Department said Kerry was making a rhetorical argument. As lawmakers in Washington ready to weigh in on whether or not to authorize the use of military force against Assad, however, an American-led attack on Assad’s government remains a very real possibility.
The White House and high-ranking members of Congress alike have repeatedly urged American politicians to sign-off on a strike meant to reprimand Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons outside of Damascus on August 21. US officials say more than 1,400 Syrians were gassed to death during that assault, though Pres. Assad remains adamant that he was not responsible.
President Barack Obama and Mr. Kerry said they want a limited military strike against Assad in order to demonstrate that the US will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against civilians. The secretary of state is expected to brief members of Congress on Monday after returning from the UK, and Pres. Obama will address the nation in a televised statement the following evening.
Before leaving London, Sec. Kerry said, “We will be able to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable without engaging in troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria’s civil war.”
Amid concerns that intervening in that internal conflict will launch the US into another war, Kerry added that the White House wants nothing more than an “unbelievably small, limited kind of effort.” Outside of Washington, though, the use of military force remains largely unwanted. According to the results of a CNN poll conducted over the weekend, 59 percent of Americans said they are against a military strike on Syria, and nearly three-fours of those surveyed said airstrikes would not achieve “significant goals” for the US.
Meanwhile, proponents of intervention say they are more certain than ever that Assad approved last month’s assault. Kerry claimed that the entire US intelligence community now believes Assad ordered the chemical weapons attack, and said only three people - Assad, one of his brothers and a senior general - are responsible.
Assad told CBS News on Sunday that America should “expect every action” if a strike is ordered in Washington. The next day, Kerry said of the Syrian president, “This is a man without credibility.”
Kerry’s remarks in London were made during a joint appearance with William Hague, the British foreign secretary. “Our government supports the objective of ensuring that there can be no impunity for the first use of chemical warfare in the 21st century,” Mr. Hague said during the presser “As an international community we must deter further attacks and hold those responsible for them accountable.”
