Editor’s Note: Anderson will have the latest developments on the Obama administration’s push for U.S. military action in Syria tonight on AC360 at 8 p.m. ET.
In a 10-7 vote, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a resolution today authorizing limited U.S. military action in Syria, setting up a showdown in the full Senate next week. The resolution allows for 60 days of strikes against Syria, with the option of a 30 day extension.
Meanwhile, President Obama continues to press his case for striking Syria. “I didn't set a red line. The world set a red line,” Mister Obama said today in Stockholm on his way to St. Petersburg for the G20 Summit. He attributes that to the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty approved by the U.S. Congress and more than 100 other countries. Here’s the AC360 411 on chemical weapons:
1,429
The preliminary total number of people killed in Syria’s chemical attack on August 21, according to the U.S. government assessment.
426
The number of children killed in the August 21 attack in Syria, also according to the U.S. government assessment.
At least 350
How many people were killed in the August 21 chemical attack, according to British and French government reports.
13
Members of the U.N. team investigating last month’s chemical attack in Syria. They left Damascus on Saturday with biological samples. The findings are not expected for at least a week.
14
How many chemical attacks the Assad government is linked to since 2012, according to the latest British government assessment.
4
That’s how many months ago a U.N. official said there was strong suspicions Syrian opposition fighters used sarin gas in the country’s civil war. However, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army said they don’t have unconventional weapons, and don’t want any.
1997
The year the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) entered into force with 87 member states, including the United States. Members vow to destroy existing stocks of chemical weapons within ten years and bans their future use.
189
The number of CWC member states today.
7
The number of CWC non-member states, including Syria.
98
The percentage of the world’s population living within territories where the CWC is the law of the land.
81
The percentage of the world’s declared stockpile of 71,196 metric tons of chemical agent have been verifiably destroyed, according to the CWC.
1925
The year 40 nations banned the first use of chemical weapons when the Geneva Protocol was signed. Now more than 100 nations have signed it, but the U.S. didn’t do so until 1975.