Going to Congress not an American retreat: Kerry

President Barack Obama's decision to seek a Congressional nod for a military strike on Syria is not an American retreat as being described by the Syrian regime, Secretary of State John Kerry said today.
"I don't believe so at all," Kerry told the Fox News Sunday in an interview when asked to comment on the Syrian media statement that seeking congressional authorisation for military action against Syria is "the start of the historic American retreat".
"That is in the hands of the Congress of the United States. The president has made his decision. The President wants to stand up and make certain that we uphold the international norm, that we do not grant impunity to a ruthless dictator to gas his own people," he said in response to a question.

"Anybody who saw those images, anybody who know focuses on the evidence that I just gave you about signatures of sarin in the hair and blood samples of the first responders -- I mean, first responders died. People who went to help the people who were hurt, died in this case," he said.
Alleging that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a man who has committed a crime against humanity, Kerry expressed confidence that the Congress will give its authorisation to Obama as America's credibility is at stake.
"I can't imagine that the Congress of the United States will not recognise our interests with respect to Iran, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, our friends in the region, the Syrian people, the opposition," Kerry said.

"America's credibility is on the line here, and I expect the Congress of the United States to do what is right and to stand up and be counted, and I think that the Assad regime needs to recognise that they have refocused the energy of the American people on him, on his regime, on his lack of legitimacy to govern, and on the ways we will support the opposition in order to see that the people of Syria can choose their future in an appropriate way," Kerry said.