How the Prime Minister [UK] and John Kerry ambushed nervous Obama to force him to arm Syrian rebels

Daily Mail ^ | 16 June 2013 | SIMON WALTERS

[expat1000]

David Cameron and US Secretary of State John Kerry secretly ganged up to persuade a nervous Barack Obama to back Britain’s bid to arm Syrian rebels, it was revealed last night.

The Prime Minister and Mr Kerry’s diplomatic ambush of President Obama succeeded when they won his support for a showdown with Russia’s Vladimir Putin – a key ally of Syria’s President Assad – when Mr Cameron hosts a G8 summit in Northern Ireland tomorrow.

Obama’s surprise U-turn came 24 hours after Foreign Secretary William Hague slipped into Washington almost completely unnoticed to meet Mr Kerry. In recent weeks, while supporting Mr Obama publicly, Mr Kerry has told Mr Hague privately that he strongly backs Britain’s calls to get tough with Assad. But he could not win over the US President, who feared getting dragged into a repeat of the Iraq War.

[Former Proud Canadian]

You wrote: "obama does not like the saudis"

Could you explain this:

[gaijin]

Quite simply this is political insurance in case things go badly in Syria after American escalation —a virtual certainty.

MANPADS 4 AQ —how the heck could THAT go wrong, right...?

[MestaMachine]

mecca and medina

[PieterCasparzen]

mecca and medina

That's some Funky Cold Medina.