US President Barack Obama is vowing to maintain the American Military threat against the Syrian regime over the chemical weapons on civilians, but will pursue a diplomatic solution to avoid an escalation of force.

Obama spoke to the American people in a speech from the White House, making the moral and military cases for missile strikes on Syria.  He said he wanted to keep America out of Syria’s civil war, but changed his mind after the 21 August chemical weapon attack on civilians outside Damascus.  The US says more than 1,400 people were killed, and Obama aims to prevent that from happening again.

“If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons,” Obama said.  “The purpose of a strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons and make clear to the world we will not tolerate their use.”

But if one foot were on the gas pedal of the war wagon, the other was on the brakes.  The president confirmed that US Secretary of State John Kerry would meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Thursday to attempt to reach an agreement in which Syria surrender its chemical weapons and sign onto the international chemical weapons ban.

"Any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments.  But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force."

Obama said France and the UK will work with the US on the chemical disarmament deal.