WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry today compared Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein as he said new lab tests proved that deadly sarin nerve gas was used to kill nearly 1,500 civilians last month.
“Bashar al-Assad now joins a list of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein who have used these weapons in time of war,” Kerry told NBC’s “Face the Nation.”
Kerry called the murderous attack an “affront against the decency and sensibilities of the world.”
“In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States that have now been tested from first responders in east Damascus and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of sarin,” Kerry said.
“So this case is building and this case will build.”
Kerry, who Friday publicly made a strong case for war with Syria before Obama backed off from an attack Saturday, appeared on all five major network and cable Sunday talk shows to defend the president’s decision.
He insisted that delaying action until after Congress returns from vacation Sept. 9 would enhance US credibility.
“People should be celebrating that the president is not moving unilaterally,” Kerry told “Fox News Sunday.”
“That he is honoring the request that he heard from many people in Congress, to consult and to be engaged with them, and I think realizing that the Assad regime is already on the defensive,” Kerry said.
“They are being significantly impacted by the potential of these strikes. We do not lose anything. We actually gain, and what we gain is the legitimacy of the full-throated response of the Congress of the United States and the president, acting together after our democratic process has worked properly.”
So far, Obama does not appear to have the votes lined up to approve military action against Syria either in the Democrat-led Senate or the Republican-run House.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, welcomed the war debate but said Obama will have a “problem” winning the American public’s support for military action.
“My constituents are war weary. They don’t wanna see us get involved in this,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that the president’s waffling had given even hawkish lawmakers reason to second-guess a military strike, given the “unprecedented leaking” of US military preparations during the build-up to what turned out to be an aborted attack.
“If he had acted, as Ronald Reagan did, as Bill Clinton did, as a number of other presidents did, in compliance basically with the War Powers Act, I think that he could have done that,” McCain said on “Face the Nation.”