LONDON—The British government said it respected U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to seek congressional approval for military intervention in Syria and defended its approach amid criticism that U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron was premature in asking lawmakers to vote.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday that even though the U.S. had provided further detail on evidence alleging the Syrian government had used chemical weapons after the U.K. government had put a vote to lawmakers he didn't believe waiting would have made a difference.
"The key judgments were the same: that this was a chemical attack [and] that it was the Assad regime that did it," said Mr. Hague in an interview on Sky News.
"I'm not sure the extra evidence that the United States presented would have made a difference to those doubting the evidence in the House of Commons," Mr. Hague said. "I don't think it's realistic we can go back in a week with the same question having had a 'no' for an answer."
Mr. Hague acknowledged the government's disappointment in failing to secure parliamentary approval for the principle of military intervention in Syria on Thursday. But Mr. Hague said he hadn't considered resigning over the issue, which he has described as one of the defining foreign-policy issues of the 21st century.
"It's a setback of course for any government or any minister to lose a vote in the House of Commons, we have to recognize and be honest about that, but these things happen in politics…this is democracy," the foreign secretary added. "Democracy didn't produce the results we had hoped for but we have to respect that."
Mr. Hague said that the possibility of military action had only been one part of his government's strategy on Syria and that Britain would continue to provide humanitarian aid and be engaged in diplomatic efforts, including with Russia, with which he and Mr. Cameron had continued to consult with over recent days.
"It isn't that our entire approach to Syria has been rejected," said Mr. Hague. He added that British politicians "were concerned about the shadows of Iraq, they were concerned about being drawn into a long conflict." He said that had been a concern for the British government, too, which was why the Cameron administration hadn't proposed sending ground troops.
Mr. Hague reiterated that Britain now won't play a military role and said it hadn't been asked in recent days to provide any background military role. The U.K. successfully pressed for a European Union arms embargo on supplying arms to Syrian rebels to be lifted in May.
As for the decision President Obama made Saturday to put the issue of military action to Congress, Mr. Hague said: "The United States must make its own decision so we entirely support and respect what the president announced."
Ref:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323932604579048800257516342.html
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