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

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.