Facing a congressional defeat, it seems that Obama has been offered an unexpected political lifeline from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Putin has proposed that the Syrian regime of Assad hands over its chemical weapons to United Nations oversight to avert US-led air strikes on Syria’s military bases.

On August 21, hundreds were killed in a chemical weapon attack in the Ghouta district of Damascus. This has proved to be one more horror in Syria’s ongoing civil war which has claimed over 100,000 lives and has displaced 4.5 million people from their homes. In response to the events in Ghouta, Obama is preparing to ask Congress to authorize military strikes against Syria.