MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) – The Syrian opposition has expressed disappointment by US President Barack Obama’s decision to delay possible military intervention in Syria until the congressional approval.
"We had a feeling of disappointment. We were expecting things to be quicker, that a strike would be imminent... But we believe Congress will approve a strike," AFP quoted Samir Nashar, a top official at the Syrian National Coalition, as saying.
The US House of Representatives expects to start consideration of a possible military strike against Syria after September 9, Republican House Speaker John Boehner said Saturday.
Syrian National Coalition spokesman Louay Safi called the decision a "failure of leadership" by the US and said the “lack of action could embolden the regime and they repeat the attacks in a more serious way," CNN reported.
Obama said on Saturday he had decided that the United States should take military action against targets in Syria, reiterating US assertions that the government of President Bashar Assad was to blame for the apparent use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war.
But Obama went on to say that the decision was too important for any president to take alone and required a national debate in order for the will of the American people to be heard through the legislative branch of government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the US on Saturday saying that Washington’s allegations about the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons against civilians were "unimaginable nonsense.”
