The US accused Syria of dragging its feet in giving up its chemical arms, jeopardising a deal to remove such weapons from the country as it engages in a chaotic civil war, reports Reuters.
This week, President Barack Obama touted the chemical weapons agreement as one of the few US diplomatic achievements in Syria. However, the State Department said only 4% of Syria’s deadliest agents had been shipped out of the country to be destroyed at sea.
With few means of forcing President Bashar al-Assad to comply, a State Department spokeswoman warned that military action was still possible. However, Russia was called to pressure their ally Damascus to comply with the agreement to surrender their chemical weapons, as established last year.
"The effort to remove chemical agents and key precursor chemicals from Syria has seriously languished and stalled," US Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Robert Mikulak told the world's chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague.
He went on to accuse Syria of “open-ended delaying” of the disarmament process.
Assad agreed to the disarmament in September after US threats of retaliatory air strikes for a poison gas attack near Damascus in August that killed hundreds of people, including women and children. However, the process is now six to eight weeks behind schedule and the deadline for the final disarmament is set for next week.
In the face of much criticism regarding the issue, Obama cited the chemical weapons deal in his annual state of the Union address on Tuesday, saying "American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria's chemical weapons are being eliminated."
RUSSIAN PRESSURE
Underscoring the Obama's administration's anxiety, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel discussed the issue in a call with his Russian counterpart Defence Minister Sergei Shogun on Wednesday and asked him to "do what he could to influence the Syrian government to comply."
In a rare case of diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, Moscow and Washington joined forces last year to get Assad to agree to give up his chemical weapons stockpiles. However, Obama’s critics claim that Russia is too close to Syria – its only ally in the Middle East – to enforce the agreement.
Among the critics, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, said: "Having the Russians disarm Assad is sort of like Mussolini disarming Hitler; I'm not so sure it's going to work."
Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States had never taken the military option off the table. However, she insisted diplomacy remained the preferred course and said there was "still the possibility" that Syria would comply even though "they are dragging their feet."
With the US gearing up for military action only to back away again last year, there seems to be little support in Congress or among the war-weary American public for a new US military entanglement in the Middle East. Diplomatic engagements with Iran - another Assad ally - is also widely seen a means of avoiding armed conflict over Tehran's nuclear program.
Meanwhile, the White House said Syria must intensify its efforts in transporting chemical weapons to the Mediterranean port of Latakia, where the material is being shipped out.
"Syria has said that its delay in transporting these chemicals has been caused by 'security concerns' and insisted on additional equipment - armoured jackets for shipping containers, electronic countermeasures and detectors for improvised explosive devices," Mikulak told the OPCW's executive council.
"These demands are without merit and display a bargaining mentality rather than a security mentality," he added.
MOOD IN CONGRESS
US lawmakers voiced concerns about the chemical weapons delays but were sceptical that it would change the reluctance of many members of Congress for more involvement in Syria's civil war, which has claimed more than 100,000 lives.
The Obama administration seized upon the Russian chemical weapons removal proposal last year as it became clear that, amid stiff resistance from both parties, Congress would not grant the president authority to launch military strikes against Assad's forces.
"Unfortunately, most people don't care and that’s the tragedy of it all," said US Senator John McCain, an outspoken advocate of military aid to anti-Assad rebels.
Former Middle East Adviser to Obama Dennis Ross said he had always assumed "the Assad regime would have to be coerced every step of the way to destroy its chemical weapons."
"The question will be whether the Russians will tolerate Assad making them look bad," Ross said, suggesting the Syrian president was stalling "to see what he can get away with."
Another option at Obama's disposal would be to push for further sanctions against Syria. However, this would require support from Russia and China in the UN Security Council, who have refused to back such measures against Assad so far.
Under the deal, Syria agreed to give up its entire chemical stockpile by mid-2014. The two shipments delivered to Latakia so far totalled 4.1% of approximately 1,300 tonnes of toxic agents reported by Damascus to the OPCW, said the sources familiar with the matter.
Eradicating Syria's stockpile, including sarin, mustard gas and VX, requires massive foreign funding and logistical support. The bulk is to be destroyed on the Cape Ray, a US cargo ship now en route to the Mediterranean.
