Syrian state-run media derides Obama's Congress request as US 'retreat'

Comments appear in front-page editorial in official Syrian newspaper.

By REUTERS
Obama Biden talking Syria white house 31.8.13 370 (photo credit: Reuters)
Obama Biden talking Syria white house 31.8.13 370
(photo credit: Reuters)
US President Barack Obama's decision to seek congressional approval before going ahead with a military strike on Syria marks the start of a US "retreat", Syrian state media said on Sunday.
"Obama announced yesterday, directly or through implication, the beginning of the historic American retreat," said the comments, which ran in a front-page editorial in Syria's official al-Thawra newspaper.
The president said on Saturday that he believed the US should take military action against Damascus for its apparent use of chemical weapons, he would first seek congressional consent, a move likely to delay an attack for at least 10 days.
"A decision to wage war on Syria is a criminal decision and an incorrect decision. We are confident that we will be victorious," Syria's deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad told reporters outside a hotel in Damascus.