President Barack Obama today tried to rally Congressional support for possible US military action against Syria ahead of a vote expected over the issue as his top diplomat launched parallel efforts to drum up support from key European allies and Arab leaders.
Obama administration officials are struggling to assuage lawmakers who are hearing from war-weary constituents that say they should reject the President's call for limited military action in Syria.
Just back from a European trip in which he failed to forge a consensus among global leaders, Obama launched a campaign on radio and television to try to convince a skeptical US public and Congress.
Making a strong pitch for a "limited" military strike against the Syrian regime, Obama said America cannot "turn a blind eye" to the images emerging from the country.
The president will give interviews with CNN, PBS, Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS tomorrow as he presses his case, a White House official said.
On Tuesday, Obama will address the American people on this crisis.
Obama had said that he had expected skepticism from the public and from lawmakers, and that he had anticipated it would be "a heavy lift" to win approval for military action from Congress.
He asked Americans to back him in launching an attack on Syria, as diplomatic pressure grew on the US to wait for a UN report expected in a week's time before beginning military action.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria," Obama said in his weekly address.
"We can't ignore chemical weapons attacks like this one, even if they happen halfway around the world. And that's why I call on Members of Congress, from both parties, to come together and stand up for the kind of world we want to live in, the kind of world we want to leave our children and future generations," he said.
Senate Intelligence Committee released 13 videos showing images of the chemical attack in Syria as part of the White House' efforts to press for the case. Some of the graphic images of the chemical attack have been shown in the videos.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry stepped up his efforts to persue Europens allies. He is set to meet Arab leaders before heading to the UK as part of a European tour aimed at increasing support for action against Syria.
