(CNN) — NATO said Monday it wants a “firm international response” to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Rebels fighting the Syrian regime want action fast. And some U.S. lawmakers support President Barack Obama’s call for military strikes.
“It would send a very, I would say, dangerous signal to dictators all over the world if we stand idly by and don’t react,” Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
But NATO itself won’t take military action. And Syria’s allies in the U.N. Security Council, Russia and China, are sure to block any U.N. effort.
Russia, which has major trade deals with Syria, is sending a delegation to Washington for “dialogue” with members of Congress, the Kremlin said Monday.
When the two sides share “opinions and arguments, then we’ll better understand each other,” said Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament. “And I hope that the U.S. Congress will take a balanced position” — and reject military intervention.
Matviyenko insisted there are no “strong arguments” for war.
