FOXNews.com: Top House Democrat and Republican agree Putin leading on Syria

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Top House Democrat and Republican agree Putin leading on Syria Sep 15th 2013, 14:02 Published September 15, 2013 FoxNews.com FILE: July 23, 2012: The citizen journalism image by Shaam News Network purportedly shows damage from heavy shelling in Damascus, Syria.AP A top House Democrat and Republican differed Sunday about how the United States' effort to solve the Syria crisis swerved from a threat of military force to a possible diplomatic solution, but they agreed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is now leading the effort. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., argued that a potential diplomatic solution couldn't have been possible without President Obama first saying the U.S. would take military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad for an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that killed nearly 1,500 of his own people. "We wouldn't be at this point if not for the president's credible threat," Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, told "Fox News Sunday." "Let's not kid ourselves." The shift happened in a swift turn of events starting Aug. 31 when Obama said the U.S. should launch a punitive strike, but that he also wanted congressional approval. In the ensuing days, with Congress and the American public showing limited support for a strike, Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to float a plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons to the international community. Putin embraced the idea, and Kerry agreed with Russia to a tentative deal to secure Assad's stockpile. Van Hollen argued that Assad within that time went from denying having chemical weapons to admitting he has them to appearing open to allowing international inspectors to Syria, entrenched in a more than 2-year-long civil war. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, suggested on Fox that the Obama administration sought a possible alternative to a military strike because there "was not a lot of appetite from the American people." Still, McCaul argued: "Russia has the greatest influence over Assad." It remains unclear whether Syria will sign on to the agreement, which requires the Middle East country to submit a full inventory of its stocks within the next week. Under the framework agreement, international inspectors are to be on the ground in Syria by November. During that month, they are to complete their initial assessment and all mixing and filling equipment for chemical weapons is to be destroyed. Noncompliance by the Assad government or any other party would be referred to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. That group oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria this week agreed to join. The U.S. and Russia will press for a Security Council resolution enshrining the chemical weapons agreement under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which can authorize both the use of force and nonmilitary measures. But Russia, which already has rejected three resolutions on Syria, would be sure to veto military action. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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