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LequteMan
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President Barack Obama has won backing from key US political figures on his plans for a military strike on Syria.
President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden met House Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and the chairmen and ranking members from the national security committees in Washington on Tuesday.
Mr Boehner signalled his support for Mr Obama's call for action, saying that only the US had the capacity to stop President Assad and urged his colleagues in Congress to follow suit.
Mr Cantor, the House of Representatives majority leader, said he also backed Mr Obama.
Ms Pelosi said she did not believe Congress would reject a resolution calling for force.
Mr Obama said that Mr Assad had to be held accountable for the chemical attack and that he was confident Congress would back him.
He said he was proposing military action that would degrade President Assad's capacity to use chemical weapons "now and in the future".
"What we are envisioning is something limited. It is something proportional,"
"At the same time we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition." the president said.
Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and the top US military officer, Gen Martin Dempsey, are to appear later on Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
There will also be a classified briefing for all members of Congress.
Mr Obama will head to Sweden late on Tuesday for a G20 meeting sure to be dominated by Syria.
France has strongly backed the US plan for military action. President Francois Hollande on Tuesday called for Europe to unite on the issue, but said he would wait for congress to vote. He said France “would not act alone” if Congress did not support military action.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron had also backed Mr Obama, but Parliament rejected a resolution on military action.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the organisation's charter permitted military action only in self defence or with the agreement of the Security Council.
He said a US military response could create more turmoil, but that if chemical weapons had been used in Syria then the Security Council should unite and take action against what would be "an outrageous war crime".