CALL TO ARMS

Obama Seeks Support of Syria Plan

Needs congressional authorization.

The Obama administration launched a full-blown campaign to gain congressional approval for a Syria intervention Sunday. "The hesitation and the disappointment is so obvious in the words of President Obama yesterday," said Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. "The confusion was clear as well." Syria's state-run news agency reported that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which stands accused of using chemical weapons against its own people, is ready to meet a U.S.-led military strike, but it did not quote Assad himself. Secretary of State John Kerry said that at least 1,429 people were killed in the chemical weapons attack.