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Tensions affect U.S. staff in Lebanon, Turkey

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/06/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

1/ As tensions ratchet up over Syria, the U.S. State Department on Friday ordered the withdrawal of nonessential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, and authorized nonemergency staff to leave a consulate in Adana in southern Turkey.

"Given the current tensions the region, as well as potential threats to U.S. Government facilities and personnel, we are taking these steps out of an abundance of caution to protect our employees and their families, and local employees and visitors to our facilities," a statement said.

2/ Many observers fear that the civil war in Syria, which has become increasingly sectarian in nature, could spill over into neighboring countries, some of them already politically fragile.
The State Department also issued revised travel warnings Friday for Lebanon and Turkey, both of which share a border with Syria.
 
Obama at G-20
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/06/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

The U.S. president showed emotion as he talked of the gassing of more than 1,400 people in Syria, 400 of them children.

"This is not something we fabricated, this is not something we are using as an excuse for military action. ... I was elected to end wars, not start them," he said. "But we have to make hard choices when we stand up for things we care about."

------------

Obama needs at least 217 votes to secure his resolution there.

According to CNN's count,
109 House members plan to vote "no,"
while 23 -- including a number of high-profile Republicans -- plan to back it.
More than 280 representatives remain undecided.
 
Senate Vote
---------------
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.co...s-for-syria-resolution-is-a-work-in-progress/
1/ "I think we're going to get to 60 votes. You know it's a work in progress," Reid told reporters as he stepped off the Senate floor after formally filing the measure and readying it for expected votes next week.

2/ On Monday, Reid is expected to take the first steps to overcome an anticipated filibuster over whether to formally begin debate on the resolution. That would set up a key test vote on that question Wednesday.

House Vote
-----------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/w...-in-russia-for-g20-summit.html?pagewanted=all
3/ It may be that the dire talk from the White House reflects a strategy to muscle Congress into line: <B> Vote against this, the message being, and you vote against protecting Israel from Iran.</b>

4/ Nancy Soderberg, who was a diplomat at the United Nations under President Bill Clinton, said <b> a negative vote would cut Congress out of foreign policy </b>. “Rather than tying the president’s hands for the next three years, a failure in the House would leave him more reliant on his inner circle and a few key world leaders in making the difficult choices between force and diplomacy,” she said.
 
Obama needs game-changer to win House vote on Syria
==============================

1/ Lawmakers receiving classified briefings say they’re convinced Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against civilians.
The public — which hasn’t seen the same evidence — isn’t as sure.

2/ The Obama administration faces an uphill climb in Syria partly because of the Iraq War, which was launched on the faulty intelligence — described as “slam-dunk” intel by then-CIA chief George Tenet — that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

3/ The risk for Obama is that in delivering a prime-time address from the Oval Office to the public on Syria, he will dramatically raise the stakes. If the House rejects the authorization after a dramatic plea from Obama, it will diminish his standing even more.

But the stakes are already high, and if the president loses the House vote and doesn’t give a speech, people will surely second-guess the decision.

4/ “I think he’ll need to go on TV, in primetime,” Sherman said. “The active public is against this. I don’t know a member of Congress whose e-mails and phone calls are in favor of this.”

5/ While in Russia at the G-20, Obama started calling members of the Senate.

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-aff...nger-to-win-house-vote-on-syria#ixzz2eA7gG4kO

lastest Vote Map as of Friday evening
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...trongly-against-syria-resolution-in-congress/
 
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