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BEIRUT (AP) -- Syria's top rebel commander called Thursday for regime officials to be put on trial for carrying out an alleged chemical attack near Damascus that killed hundreds last month, blasting a Russian proposal for securing the country's chemical arsenal.

CBS News’ report misses one crucial question: Did John Kerry bring another reset button? Nothing says seriousness to Sergei Lavrov like an American Secretary of State handing him a big red button labeled “Reset” — er, “Overcharge”:

Finding and securing Syria's chemical weapons stockpile amid a bloody civil war will be a daunting and lengthy task that will make bringing some of the world's most contentious regimes to the negotiating table look easy, experts say. Thousands of tons of deadly weapons are spread throughout Syria, hidden in underground bunkers, secured in clandestine government facilities and constantly being moved, according an unclassified CIA report. "Nothing about this will be easy," said Gwyn Wifiled, editor of CBRNe World and an expert on weapons of mass destruction. "The inspectors will effectively become a third player in the conflict. It will...

Contemptible how the incompetent idiots Obama and Kerry allowed themselves to be elbowed aside and humiliated by Putin. Obama and Kerry should both resign or be driven from office in disgrace. On the other hand, had Obama lobbed in even one teeny weenie missile, he would have committed an impeachable offense. He and Kerry both swear by the UN (I don't) but I believe that by the UN's vaunted international standards, Obama could have been charged as a war criminal for starting a war of aggression. Lobbing even one missile into Syria would be an act of war. Obama's arrogance...

If Saddam Hussein's Iraq is anything to go by, destroying Syria's massive chemical weapons arsenal will mean checking dozens of far-flung sites in a war zone while the government employs delaying tactics to hide the banned munitions, an expert involved in past U.N. disarmament missions said. Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons network comprises remote underground bunkers where hundreds of tons of nerve agents are stored, scud missiles and artillery shells, possibly armed with cyanide, and factories deep inside hostile territory used to produce mustard or VX gas, experts believe. "It's big. He has one of the biggest chemical weapons programs in...

Putin wants US to take use of force off the table - unacceptable. "Putin: No US strikes for #Syria deal" http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/putin-us-strikes-syria-deal-96559.html?hp=f3 Vladimir Putin: No U.S. strikes for Syria deal - Tal Kopan Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that for the proposed Russian agreement that Syria turn over its chemical weapons to work, the United States must take military action off the table....

September 10, 2013 Obama Rescues Assad The President lets Putin outmaneuver him on Syrian chemical arms. What could be worse for America's standing in the world than a Congress refusing to support a President's proposal for military action against a rogue regime that used WMD? Here's one idea: A U.S. President letting that rogue be rescued from military punishment by the country that has protected the rogue all along. That's where President Obama now finds himself on Syria after he embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to take custody of Bashar Assad's chemical weapons. The move may rescue Mr. Obama...

Depending on who's writing the story, Putin either had his lunch or saved his bacon. Either way, he cleaned Obama's clock. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/10/putin-chemical-weapons-united-nations-obama/2794529/

Cairo: The Arab League will back a Russian plan to place Syrian chemical weapons under international supervision for eventual destruction, its secretary general said on Tuesday. Nabil al-Arabi told reporters in Cairo the League will 'soon issue a statement announcing its support officially' for the Russian plan... "If you remember, I always insisted that (the Syrian conflict) needs a political solution" Arabi said. But they fell short of calling for military strikes as proposed by Washington, with several members opposed to foreign intervention in Syria.

The U.N. Security Council has canceled a meeting on a resolution aimed at securing and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles. The closed consultations had been scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) Tuesday. Australian Ambassador Gary Guinlan says in a Twitter message that the meeting was canceled “following withdrawal of the request for consultations.” Council diplomats said Russia asked for the meeting and then withdrew its request. There were no other details.

(CNN) -- As a Russian proposal to strip Syria of its chemical weapons began to take shape, the White House eased off the gas Tuesday in its drive for congressional approval to strike the Middle Eastern country. But proving that nothing will come easy in resolving the Syrian chemical weapons crisis, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it deemed as "unacceptable" a French proposal -- also backed by some U.S. lawmakers -- asking the United Nations Security Council to declare Syria responsible for an August 21 chemical attack that U.S. official says killed more than 1,400 people. According to Syrian...

TAMPA, September 10, 2013 – Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem said earlier today that his government would accept the proposal to surrender its chemical weapons for destruction by the international community, according to the Associated Press. The proposal was made by the Russian government in an attempt to avoid U.S. airstrikes in reprisal for alleged chemical weapons attacks by its Syrian counterpart against rebels and civilians on Aug. 21. The Syrian government has consistently denied launching the attacks. President Obama has now reportedly changed the goal of his meetings today with Congressmen from persuading them to approve his military strikes...

Tonight at 9 p.m. EST, President Obama will deliver live, televised remarks on Syria from the White House. Daily Intelligencer has secured a copy of this speech, as prepared for address. Good evening. Tonight I had hoped to speak directly to you, the American people, as your president and commander-in-chief, about the necessity of taking military action against the Assad regime in Syria. I was going to talk all about why bombing Syria was not only a moral obligation, but also squarely in our national interests. That's what I had planned to do when we scheduled this speech last week....

Update, or this is how chaos becomes total Bazooko circus: SYRIAN OPPOSITION SAYS U.S. ‘INACTIONS IS NOT AN OPTION’. Time for more cannibalism false flagy YouTube clips then... * * * From the need to teach Syria (and all global chemical weapons using despots) a lesson they won't forget to losing 'allies' to bluffing Russia to deal-or-no-deal, strike request or no strike request, the bluster from the US administration has now devolved into total chaos. As the following headlines from the last week attest to - it seems no one knows what is really occurring. So do we want the...

Headline only. Syria welcomes Russia's proposal for Damascus to put its chemical weapons under international control: Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem by Margarita Noriega (Reuters) 10:41 AM

Monday 9 September, 2013, was the worst day for US and wider Western diplomacy since records began.At the Foreign Office here in London we had the bizarre spectacle of US Secretary of State John Kerry giving a businesslike account of diplomatic incentives: If one party believes that it can rub out countless numbers of his own citizens with impunity using chemicals that have been banned for nearly 100 years because of what Europe learned in World War I, if he can do that with impunity, he will never come to a negotiating table … If you don’t draw those lines,...

(Headline only) Breaking News: Syria accepts Russian proposal to put chemical weapons under international control - Interfax

I’ve been thinking about this all night...It doesn’t make sense to me. Does anyone else feel the same way I do? Putin is very very quick, almost too quick, to offer the INternational control of weapons IMMEDIATELY after Kerry’s faux Paux. Why? I don't think in the least that he fears Obama, or even respects the man as his equal. So why would he make an offer that on the surface will ultimately make Obama look good esp in the eyes of the media, and make him looks like he caved to Obama's threats? Anyone over the age of 40...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that there would be no military action in Syria, if the leadership of the country handed over all existing chemical weapons under the control of the international community, Deutsche Welle reports. According to Kerry, military intervention is not enough to solve the Syrian problem. According to him, there is no military solution. The U.S. Congress is to vote on the question of military intervention Syria on September 11. According to preliminary reports, the House of Representatives is unlikely to approve it, over the fear of another major war in the Middle East.

Full title:MY USA TODAY COLUMN: Obama Diplomacy Is Making Him A Laughingstock. And that was written before yesterday afternoon’s absurd new developments. I am aware that 'USA Today' forbids direct links to their news stories, articles but as I understand it, providing a link is permitted