DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria on Sunday derided President Barack Obama’s decision to hold off on punitive military strikes, but also took precautions by reportedly moving some troops and military equipment to civilian areas.
The Obama administration countered that its case for military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is getting stronger, saying it now has evidence that the toxic gas allegedly used in strikes on rebel-held areas was the nerve agent sarin.
The administration predicted Sunday it will obtain congressional backing for limited strikes. After days of edging closer to military action against Syria, Obama suddenly announced Saturday he would first seek approval from Congress, which returns from summer break Sept. 9.
Assad, in turn, tried to project confidence in his escalating showdown with the U.S., saying in comments carried by state media Sunday that Syria is “capable of confronting any external aggression.”
From the sidelines, others exhorted the U.S. either to get involved or stay out of the brutal 2½-year-old conflict that has claimed more than 100,000 lives and displaced millions of people.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he would stage a worldwide prayer vigil for Syria on Sept. 7 and called on all sides to lay down their arms.
“My heart is deeply wounded by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments” on the horizon, Francis told crowds in St. Peter’s Square, forgoing the usual religious theme of his weekly address.
The main Syrian political opposition, which operates largely from exile, warned that Obama would give dictators in Iran, North Korea and elsewhere a free pass to commit atrocities if he does not punish Assad.
In the Syrian capital Damascus, some said the reprieve from Washington was only prolonging their torment.
A 29-year-old city resident said he reinforced his window with tape in anticipation of an imminent attack.
“I know people who prepared sleeping pills to give to their kids the night of the attack so they can sleep and not be scared,” said the man, who only gave his first name, Nasib, for fear of reprisals.
Nearly two weeks after the alleged chemical weapons attacks on areas east and west of Damascus, many unanswered questions remain.
Neither the U.S. nor the Syrian regime, which blames rebels for the attacks, has publicly presented proof.
Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faysal Mikdad, claimed Sunday that Obama stepped back from his threat to attack because he lacks evidence of Syrian government involvement in the Aug. 21 attacks.
“The hesitation and the disappointment is so obvious in the words of President Obama yesterday,” Mikdad told reporters in Damascus. “The confusion was clear as well.”
In a sharply worded front-page article, the state-run newspaper Al-Thawra, expressing official thinking, said Obama’s turn-about on military action was “the start of the historic American retreat.”
Yet despite the official hubris, there were signs the regime was taking precautions.
The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said the army moved troops as well as rocket launchers, artillery and other heavy weapons inside residential neighborhoods in cities nationwide. The coalition said Assad ordered detainees to be moved to military targets for use as human shields against U.S. strikes.
