(NEWSER) – President Obama may not have sounded very threatening during yesterday's White House press conference, but senior administration officials say he is planning a much more aggressive line on Syria, theWashington Post reports. The president is planning to supply the Syrian opposition with lethal weaponry for the first time, and plans for the US to take a leading role among allies seeking to get rid of President Bashar al-Assad, officials say.
"We’re clearly on an upward trajectory," according to a senior official, who says Obama is "ready to move" and is weighing all options, including a no-fly zone and even boots on the ground. “We’ve moved over to assistance that has a direct military purpose," the official says. The president will make a decision on sending arms to Syria rebels within weeks, before a June meeting with Vladimir Putin in which he will try to persuade the Russian leader that Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons should be enough for him to stop supporting Assad.
"We’re clearly on an upward trajectory," according to a senior official, who says Obama is "ready to move" and is weighing all options, including a no-fly zone and even boots on the ground. “We’ve moved over to assistance that has a direct military purpose," the official says. The president will make a decision on sending arms to Syria rebels within weeks, before a June meeting with Vladimir Putin in which he will try to persuade the Russian leader that Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons should be enough for him to stop supporting Assad.
Close Gitmo, Already
(NEWSER) – President Obama has once again vowed to make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, but his actions fall far short of his words, the New York Times writes in an editorial. The center, as Obama admits, is a "blight on the nation’s reputation" that "mocks American standards of justice" and "has actually hindered the prosecution and imprisonment of dangerous terrorists," the Times writes, but the president doesn't appear to be treating the hunger strike like the serious crisis it is—nor is he heeding ethics groups who say forced feeding of detainees is a form of abuse.
If the president is serious about closing Guantanamo, theTimes suggests that he follow two steps outlined by the ACLU: Appoint a senior official "so that closure policy is directed by the White House and not by Pentagon bureaucrats," and direct Chuck Hagel to start giving legally required waivers to transfer detainees who have been cleared. "The hunger strike is an act of desperation over policies even Mr. Obama says cannot be defended," theTimes concludes. "It is his responsibility to deal with it—and close the prison."
If the president is serious about closing Guantanamo, theTimes suggests that he follow two steps outlined by the ACLU: Appoint a senior official "so that closure policy is directed by the White House and not by Pentagon bureaucrats," and direct Chuck Hagel to start giving legally required waivers to transfer detainees who have been cleared. "The hunger strike is an act of desperation over policies even Mr. Obama says cannot be defended," theTimes concludes. "It is his responsibility to deal with it—and close the prison."