--- title: U.S. President Obama Makes Case for Military Strike on Syria description: In a rare prime-time address to the nation, President Barack Obama laid out the case for U.S. intervention in Syria, even as he told the... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7181309/obama-makes-case-for-strike-on-syria/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-09-11T01:43:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-18T06:41:45.685Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. President Obama Makes Case for Military Strike on Syria og:description: In a rare prime-time address to the nation, President Barack Obama laid out the case for U.S. intervention in Syria, even as he told the... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7181309/obama-makes-case-for-strike-on-syria/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdceb907842801586/698a9d319d83e83320ba14d6/ap271407432433.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4656 og:image:height: 2619 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. President Obama Makes Case for Military Strike on Syria twitter:description: In a rare prime-time address to the nation, President Barack Obama laid out the case for U.S. intervention in Syria, even as he told the... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdceb907842801586/698a9d319d83e83320ba14d6/ap271407432433.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) # Obama Makes Case for Strike on Syria > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 11, 2013 1:43 AM UTC  President Barack Obama addresses the nation in a live televised speech from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013\. President Obama blended the threat of military action with the hope of a diplomatic solution as he works to strip Syria of its chemical weapons. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool) President Barack Obama addresses the nation in a live televised speech from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013\. President Obama blended the threat of military action with the hope of a diplomatic solution as he works to strip Syria of its chemical weapons. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)AP by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 11, 2013 1:43 AM UTC In a rare prime-time address to the nation, President Barack Obama laid out the case for U.S. intervention in Syria, even as he told the American people that he had asked congressional leaders to postpone a vote on the use of military force against the Assad regime. Responding to 36 hours of whirlwind diplomatic efforts to avoid a strike, with Russia pressuring Syria to turn over its chemical weapons to the international community, Obama said he was ordering the military to maintain it’s readiness to attack the Assad regime if necessary, but also that he was turning the focus of his Administration to finding a peaceful solution to the international crisis. Facing a war-weary nation that opposes American intervention in Syria by as much as a 2-to-1 margin, Obama’s 15-minute address was notable for its conversational tone, with the President devoting much of the time toward allaying the concerns of the public with a chorus of questions and answers. “I’ve spent four and a half years working to end wars, not to start them,” Obama said. But the chemical-weapons attack on Aug. 21, which Obama said was ordered by the Assad regime, killed more than 1,400 people, a development the President said is a threat to American national security. videoid=2663434131001 “The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons — to degrade his regime’s ability to use them,” Obama said, saying the military response would be a significant blow to the Assad regime, which he compared to the Nazi regime of World War II. “Let me be clear, the United States military doesn’t do pinpricks.” Congressional leaders of both parties have pressured Obama to deliver an address to the nation to explain the case for military action in Syria for more than two weeks. Obama said America should not be the world’s policeman. Still, he said that when the U.S. has the ability to prevent the gassing of innocent children, the nation must act. “The burdens of leadership are often heavy, but the world is a better place because we have borne them,” Obama said. Obama tried to convince the American people to engage in Syria, despite the legacies of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, saying he was initially skeptical of military action. “We cannot resolve somebody else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria. I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan,” Obama said. It’s a promise his entire Administration, believing it is essential to building support for a strike on Assad. Obama’s full remarks are below: --- > “” --- **MORE:** [3 Things Obama Must Accomplish in Syria Speech](http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/10/3-things-obama-must-accomplish-in-tonights-syria-speech/) **MORE:** [Chaos Reigns in Congress as Syrian Military Strike Slips to Plan B](http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/10/chaos-reigns-in-congress-as-syrian-military-strike-slips-to-plan-b/?iid=sl-main-lead) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7181309/obama-makes-case-for-strike-on-syria/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7181309/obama-makes-case-for-strike-on-syria/"},"headline":"Obama Makes Case for Strike on Syria","datePublished":"2013-09-11T01:43:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-18T06:41:45.685Z","description":"In a rare prime-time address to the nation, President Barack Obama laid out the case for U.S. intervention in Syria, even as he told the...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7181309/obama-makes-case-for-strike-on-syria/","keywords":["house","facebook","Immigration","Boehner"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdceb907842801586/698a9d319d83e83320ba14d6/ap271407432433.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdceb907842801586/698a9d319d83e83320ba14d6/ap271407432433.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"Barack Obama","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7181309/obama-makes-case-for-strike-on-syria/","name":"Obama Makes Case for Strike on Syria"}}]}] ```