US PRESIDENT BARACK Obama has said at a press conference today that he would not repeat the mistakes made in Iraq as his country mulls military action in Syria.

He said in Stockholm during a trip to Sweden today that the international community “cannot be silent” following Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people.

In addition, he said that “the world set a ‘red line’ on Syria”, not him.

“I discussed our assessment and (Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt) and I are in an agreement that in the face of such barbarism the international community cannot be silent,” he said.

Failing to respond to this attack would only increase the risk of more attacks and that possibility that other countries would use these weapons, as well.

Obama said he would not repeat mistakes made in Iraq as his country mulls military action in Syria, adding he believed he would get Congressional backing for strikes.

“I’m somebody who opposed the war in Iraq. And I am not interested in repeating mistakes of us basing decisions on faulty intelligence,” he told a briefing in the Swedish capital.

The US leader also added that he hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin would change direction on a military intervention in Syria.

“I’m always hopeful … Ultimately, we can end deaths much more rapidly if Russia takes a different approach to these problems,” he said.

Reinfeldt said at the same press conference that Sweden “condemns the use of chemical weapons in Syria and the strongest possible terms.”

It’s a clear violation of international law. Those responsible should be held accountable.

He added that he believed he would get Congressional backing for strikes.

- © AFP, 2013

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