U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday denied he risked credibility about setting a
"red line" on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
"For several years now what we've been seeing is a slowly unfolding disaster for
the Syrian people," Obama said in a wide-ranging impromptu news conference in
the White House briefing room.
The president said the United States has worked to strengthen the opposition and
worked with allies to help Syrian President Bashar Assad to be forced out of
office.
Obama said use of chemical weapons is a "game changer" for not just the United
States but the international community as a whole. But, he said, though there's
evidence chemical weapons were used, there remain questions about who was
responsible.
He said he will not "rush to judgment."
"I've got to make sure I've got the facts ... hard effective evidence," he said.
"We are already invested in the trying to bring about a solution to the violence
in Syria. I won't go into detail about what those options might be."
Asked about the Boston Marathon bombings and last year's attack on the U.S.
Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Obama said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is wrong
in saying the United States has gone backward on national security.
"No, Mr. Graham was not right on the Boston attack and Benghazi," he said.
Graham has charged the Boston Marathon bombing and the attack on the U.S.
Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, are examples of a failure in U.S. intelligence
gathering. Obama said the attacks were not intelligence failures, that both
incidents are being fully investigated and every step taken beforehand will be
reviewed.
"Based on what I've seen so far, the FBI performed its duties, the Department of
Homeland Security did what it's supposed to be doing. ... Because of the
pressure we have put on al-Qaida ... one of the dangers we now face are
self-radicalized individuals ... who may not be part of any network [who decide
to attack]. ... Those are in some ways more difficult to prevent," Obama said.
In a question on Washington politics, Obama decried the 60-vote rule to end
filibusters in the U.S. Senate, saying it's "gumming up" the works. The
president said he's confident he'll be able to get his agenda through Congress
because of the growing sense that "we have to get past" the dysfunction in the
federal government.
He said the first order of business is to end the $85 billion sequester that
cuts federal spending across the board.
Obama said it's not his job to get members of Congress to "behave." It's their
job, he said, to do the right thing for the American people.
He called on Congress to help him come up with a broader budget deal.
Asked about hunger strikes by detainees at the detention facility in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, Obama said Guantanamo "is not necessary to keep America safe" and
actually hurts anti-terror efforts.
"Congress determined they would not let us close it," Obama said, calling it a
"no-man's land," saying it's "contrary to who we are."
He called on Americans to reflect on why we're keeping the facility open when
other terrorists have successfully been tried in civilian U.S. courts and are
being held in federal prisons.
"We can handle this," he said.
Obama defended is healthcare reforms saying Obamacare had made medical insurance
more secure for people who already have health coverage.
"The challenge is setting up ... an online marketplace ... that's still a big
complicated piece of business," he said.
The president also said he looks forward to traveling to Mexico to discuss
border security and other issues with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
"We've made great strides in cooperation and coordination with Mexico over the
last few years," he said.
Obama said he had a chance to talk to NBA player Jason Collins, the first openly
gay player in a major U.S. sport league, Monday and that he told him, "I
couldn't be prouder of him." I think it's a great thing."
Collins, a 34-year-old free agent center for the Washington Wizards came out in
an article on the Sports Illustrated website.
