Possible Syria strike: 5 things to pay attention to today

 

President Barack Obama's war drums continue to beat, but an offhand comment from Secretary of State John Kerry has set in motion a diplomatic effort by Russia -- seized on at the United Nations -- to ward off a U.S. strike on Syria in favor of mediation.

What Kerry said was that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could prevent a strike if he "could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week." Kerry added that Syria would not be willing to do this.

Russia has latched on to the proposal, and Syria says it is taking the idea seriously.

The view is that Kerry's comment is either an accidental out for a president hemmed in by his own red line, or a momentum-sucking goof that may have erased any chance Obama had to engage in a military strike without broader international approval.

Will Russia's proposal delay an Obama strike? And how can Obama sway Americans to support military action? With his approval ratings on all fronts tanking, his prime-time televised address Tuesday night will be crucial. It'll be the administration's closing argument after a week of courting lawmakers.