Typhoon Usagi Makes Landfall in China; Gusty Winds Buffet Hong Kong

Typhoon Usagi, a strong tropical cyclone in the western Pacific Ocean, has made landfall in China's Guangdong Province in the city of Shanwei, about 90 miles east-northeast of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The typhoon is weakening over land, with winds now equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane. Based on Chinese radar imagery, landfall appeared to occur Sunday evening between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Hong Kong time (7 a.m. and 8 a.m. EDT U.S. time).

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, as of 11 p.m. Hong Kong time Sunday (11 a.m. EDT Sunday U.S. time), Usagi was centered near Huizhou City, Guangdong, or 60 miles northeast of Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is moving toward the west-northwest at 18 miles per hour. Maximum sustained winds are estimated at 90 mph.

Usagi Forecast Path

Usagi will continue to track toward the west to west-northwest. This track is taking the center of Usagi just north of Hong Kong overnight Sunday into Monday local time; that is when the center will make its closest approach to Hong Kong.

(WUNDERMAP: Tracking Usagi)

The storm has already dumped more than a foot of rain in parts of Taiwan and is blamed for the deaths of two people in The Philippines. Usagi will pack very strong winds and heavy rain, both of which present significant danger to those in the storm's path.

Latest IR Satellite Image

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A tropical cyclone is dubbed a "super typhoon" when maximum sustained winds reach at least 150 mph. Usagi underwent a period of rapid intensification from early Wednesday through midday Thursday (U.S. Eastern time), going from a 55-knot (65-mph) tropical storm to a 140-knot (160-mph) super typhoon in just 33 hours, or just under a 100 mph intensification, based on satellite estimates of intensity.

By Friday night, though, Usagi underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, causing the storm to weaken slightly. In addition, the outer rain bands began to interact with Taiwan and Luzon, disrupting the storm's low-level inflow, further weakening the storm.

On Saturday, animated multi-spectral satellite imagery indicated a resurgence in the storm's eyewall development, but the typhoon was never able to regain its former power before making landfall.

Here are the impacts by location for Usagi:

Hong Kong

• Airlines Cathay Pacific and Dragonair announced Saturday they would halt all flights in and out of Hong Kong from 6 p.m. Sunday.
• Closest approach of center of Usagi: Now through Monday morning around 1 a.m. Hong Kong time (Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT in the U.S.)
• A sustained wind of 56 mph (90 km/h) and a wind gust of 76 mph (123 km/h) was reported at Cheung Chau, Hong Kong, at 9 p.m. Sunday local time.
• Winds are starting to subside in parts of Hong Kong and the barometric pressure is beginning to increase as the typhoon weakens and makes its closest geographic approach to Hong Kong.
• Impacts: Tropical storm force winds of 40 to 70 mph are occurring in some areas, along with hurricane-force gusts. Hong Kong's complex terrain and numerous skyscrapers are causing winds to be higher in some places and lower in others. Periods of heavy rain will occur as well.
• Northwesterly winds will become southwesterly Monday morning (local time) as the center of Usagi passes north and then northwest of Hong Kong.
• Tides are running 1 to 2 feet above normal levels.
• Local forecast: Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world, with over 7.1 million residents, as of a 2012 estimate.

China

• Guangdong Province, where landfall occurred, is taking the brunt of Usagi's impact. The population of Guangdong is about 105 million, making it the third most populous province or state in the world (the top two are in India).
• A station pressure of 938.9 millibars, or about 940 millibars at sea level, was measured near the point of landfall in the city of Shanwei at 8 p.m. Hong Kong time Sunday. Shanwei is a coastal city of over 2 million people.
• The center of Usagi will move west or west-northwest through the major cities of the Pearl River Delta, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with winds possibly gusting to hurricane force along with heavy rainfall.
• China's government weather agency is forecasting 4 to 10 inches of rainfall across much of Guangdong Province along the path of Usagi.
• Significant storm surge has been reported around the city of Shantou, east of where Usagi made landfall, due to the large area of onshore winds on the right side of Usagi's circulation.
• Local forecast: Guangzhou

Earlier in Usagi's path:

Taiwan

• The center of Usagi passed south of the southern tip of Taiwan. 
• Impacts: Surge flooding/battering waves (eastern coast especially) and flooding rain/mudslides (central, eastern Taiwan).
• More than a foot of rain fell in some locations as Usagi passed by.
• Local forecast: Taipei

Northern Philippines

• The center of Usagi passed north of the north coast of Luzon on Saturday, local time.
• The Batanes Islands, in the extreme northern Philippines north of Luzon, took a direct hit. Basco Airport reported a sustained wind of 112 mph, then went nearly calm as the eye passed overhead and the pressure dropped to 930 millibars.
• Local forecast: Manila

 

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/typhoon-usagi-threatens-taiwan-hong-kong-20130919

5 Ways Obama Has Trampled the Constitution

Today, the Constitution turns 226 years old. Let’s not forget it states that the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

The Obama Administration has done the opposite, turning the law on its head and ignoring constitutional limitations on its power.

>>> Read the Constitution now

Here are five of the Administration’s largest violations:

1. Changing Obamacare on the fly without congressional action

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires that businesses employing 50 or more full-time employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine per uncovered employee. The law schedules this mandate to begin in January 2014. Yet the Administration has already announced that it will put this requirement on hold.

Meanwhile, Congress explicitly considered and rejected proposed amendments to Obamacare that would have created a specific allowance for a congressional health insurance subsidy in the exchanges, and indeed, such an exemption is illegal. But the Administration told Members of Congress and their staffers that it would give them a generous taxpayer-funded subsidy just the same.

Obamacare won’t work as written, and the Administration is just seizing power unilaterally to rewrite it.

2. Implementing the DREAM Act by executive fiat

Congress has repeatedly considered, and rejected, a bill known as the Dream Act that would effectively grant amnesty to many illegal aliens. Yet in June 2012, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a directive to immigration officials instructing them to defer deportation proceedings against an estimated 1.7 million illegal aliens. Oddly, this happened about a year after President Obama admitted that “the President doesn’t have the authority to simply ignore Congress and say, ‘We’re not going to enforce the laws you’ve passed.’”

3. Making “recess appointments” while the Senate was in session

In January 2012, President Obama made four “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, claiming that the Senate was not available to confirm those appointees. Yet the Senate was not in recess at that time. The Recess Appointments Clause is not an alternative to Senate confirmation and is supposed to be only a stopgap for times when the Senate is unable to provide advice and consent. Eventually, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit struck down the appointments to the NLRB as unconstitutional.

4. Waiving welfare work requirements

In July 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services gutted the work requirements out of the welfare reform law passed in 1996. It notified states of Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s “willingness to exercise her waiver authority” so that states may eliminate the work participation requirement of Section 407 of the 1996 reforms. This flatly contradicts the law, which provides that waivers granted under other sections of the law “shall not affect the applicability of section 407 to the State.” Despite this unambiguous language, the Obama Administration continues to flout the law with its “revisionist” interpretation.

5. Encouraging federal contractors to violate the law

The WARN Act requires that federal contractors give 60 days’ notice before a mass layoff or plant closing. Employers who do not give notice are liable for employees’ back pay and benefits as well as additional penalties. With defense-related spending cuts set to start on January 2, 2013, defense contractors should have issued notice by November 2, 2012 (just four days before the presidential election). Yet, the Department of Labor instructed defense contractors not to issue notice for layoffs due to sequestration until after the election—and assured them they would be reimbursed with taxpayer funds for any subsequent liability for violating the law.

One of the Constitution’s strongest features is its simplicity. It doesn’t serve as a laundry list of rights, as many modern constitutions attempt to do. Instead, it lays out a governing framework, divides power among three co-equal branches, and protects Americans from having their rights usurped by an overreaching government.

But for the Constitution to survive the next quarter-millennium, we need leaders who are dedicated to maintaining it, not stretching it to suit their immediate political needs.

Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad.

Quick Hits:

• Nina Davuluri became the first Indian-American winner of the Miss America pageant on Sunday.
• More unanswered questions: Is Obamacare compromising your medical privacy?
• Get ready to unlock your phone with a fingerprint. Just in time for the iPhone 5S, here’s one biometric myth you don’t need to fear.
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• http://blog.heritage.org/2013/09/17/morning-bell-5-ways-obama-has-trampled-the-constitution/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

ROUND 2:OBAMA MAY MEET IRAN'S ROUHANI AT UN... PUTIN TRIP TO TEHRAN FOR NUKE TALKS...

Iran's Rouhani may meet Obama at UN after American president reaches out

First meeting of US and Iranian leaders since 1979 revolution could open way to diplomatic end to Iranian nuclear standoff

An exchange of letters between Barack Obama and the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, has set the stage for a possible meeting between the two men at the UN next week in what would be the first face-to-face encounter between a US and Iranian leader since Iran's 1979 revolution.

Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, is also due to meet his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, at the UN general assembly meeting in New York, adding to guarded optimism that the June election of Rouhani, a Glasgow-educated moderate, and his appointment of a largely pragmatic cabinet, has opened the door to a diplomatic solution to the 11-year international standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.

Tehran took the Foreign Office by surprise, tweeting on Rouhani's English-language feed that the president would also be prepared to meet Hague, something the UK had not even requested.

"Tehran has responded positively to UK's request. President Rouhani's meeting w/WilliamJHague on the sidelines of UNGA has been confirmed," the tweet said.

"We would be happy to meet," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, "but we have had nothing formal from Tehran about it."

Diplomats said that the tweet reflected the new Iranian government's eagerness to make diplomatic headway on the nuclear issue, which has been at an impasse for several years. A Hague meeting with either Rouhani or Zarif could clear the way to restoring full diplomatic ties, which have not existed since the British embassy in Tehran was ransacked by a mob in November 2011.

In a television interview aired on Sunday, Obama made clear that there was a diplomatic opening with Iran, not only over the nuclear question but also over Syria. He confirmed earlier reports that he and Rouhani had "reached out" to each other, exchanging letters.

US officials were sceptical about a Rouhani meeting, but some observers said the Geneva deal on Syria's chemical weapons has opened new space for global diplomacy.

Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council and an expert on US-Iran diplomacy, said "I think there is a chance [of a meeting]. It would be a strong political push for movement. If Obama got involved, it would be the infusion of political will needed to reach an agreement.

"Tehran is already claiming some of the credit for the Syria deal. Rouhani needs to show that through his diplomatic efforts he has already avoided a war. He is desperate in his first six months to show his approach has paid more dividends than the hardline approach of his predecessor."

Parsi added that if Obama was to meet Rouhani it was likely to be an orchestrated encounter in a corridor, rather than a sit-down talk, "to give both sides deniability". The last encounter between an American and Iranian leader was when Jimmy Carter met the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in 1977.

Speaking on ABC's This Week, Obama raised the prospect of Iran getting involved in broader talks on Syria if Tehran recognised "that what's happening there is a train wreck that hurts not just Syrians but is destabilising the entire region". He said the Geneva deal could pave the way for more general talks involving Russia and Iran aimed at "some sort of political settlement that would deal with the underlying terrible conflict".

In the same interview, Obama also urged Iran's leadership not to draw the wrong lessons from his decision to draw back from air strikes on Syria in pursuit of a diplomatic solution to the chemical weapons crisis. He said it showed that it was possible to resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear aspirations peacefully, but insisted it did not indicate a weakening of US resolve to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"I think what the Iranians understand is that the nuclear issue is a far larger issue for us than the chemical weapons issue, that the threat against … Israel that a nuclear Iran poses is much closer to our core interests. That a nuclear arms race in the region is something that would be profoundly destabilising," Obama said in the ABC interview, which was recorded on Friday, before a final Syria deal with Russia was struck in Geneva.

"My suspicion is that the Iranians recognise they shouldn't draw a lesson that [because] we haven't struck to think we won't strike Iran," Obama said, in remarks that may also have been intended as a reassurance to Israel that US deterrence against any Iranian attempt to build nuclear weapons had not been weakened.

After meeting John Kerry, US secretary of state, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, stressed the same point. "The determination the international community shows regarding Syria will have a direct impact on the Syrian regime's patron – Iran," Netanyahu said. "Iran must understand the consequences of its continued defiance of the international community by its pursuit toward nuclear weapons," he added.

However, Obama insisted: "What they should draw from this lesson is that there is the potential of resolving these issues diplomatically. You know, negotiations with the Iranians are always difficult. I think this new president is not going to suddenly make it easy. But you know, my view is that … if you have both a credible threat of force, combined with a rigorous diplomatic effort, that, in fact you can strike a deal."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/15/obama-rouhani-united-nations-meeting

U.S., Russia reach agreement on seizure of Syrian chemical weapons arsenal

GENEVA — The United States and Russia agreed Saturday on an outline for the identification and seizure of Syrian chemical weapons and said Syria must turn over an accounting of its arsenal within a week.
The agreement will be backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution that could allow for sanctions or other consequences if Syria fails to comply, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said.
Kerry said that the first international inspection of Syrian chemical weapons will take place by November, with destruction to begin next year.
Senior administration officials had said Friday the Obama administration would not press for U.N. authorization to use force against Syria if it reneges on any agreement to give up its chemical weapons.
The Russians had made clear in talks here between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kerry that the negotiations could not proceed under the threat of a U.N. resolution authorizing a military strike. Russia also wanted assurances that a resolution would not refer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court for possible war-crimes prosecution.
President Obama has said that the unilateral U.S. use of force against Syria for a chemical attack last month remains on the table. But consideration of that action, already under challenge by a skeptical Congress, has been put on hold pending the outcome of the Geneva talks.
The discussions here began this week following a Russian proposal Monday, quickly agreed to by Assad, to place Syria’s chemical arsenal under international control and eventually destroy it.
Kerry and Lavrov, negotiating behind closed doors with teams of disarmament experts, have said little about the talks that began Thursday. But administration officials in Washington provided some details on the condition that they not be identified or quoted directly.
The officials insisted that any agreement must be verifiable and include consequences for non-compliance. Short of a threatened use of force, it is not clear what those consequences would be.
The question of U.N. authorization for using force in Syria came up less than 24 hours after the Russians first made their proposal. France quickly drafted a resolution that threatened to consider “further necessary measures” — code words for military force — if Syria makes a deal and then breaks it. The draft, negotiated with the United States and Britain, was met with public statements from Lavrov and Russian President Vladi­mir Putin that they would not negotiate under threat.
Washington and London have now backed off the use-of-force provision, and a revised French draft being circulated at the U.N. Security Council has weakened it. Instead, the draft calls for continuous review of “Syria’s compliance . . . and, if Syria does not comply fully, to impose further measures” that are unspecified.
The draft still includes a provision to refer Syrian authorities to the International Criminal Court, but that provision could also be removed in subsequent reworkings as the Geneva negotiations continue.
The senior officials said they expected a U.N. resolution in some form to pass within weeks of a Geneva agreement.
One possible course of action, they said, is the internationally verified transfer of Syria’s chemical stockpiles to Russia, where they eventually would be destroyed.
The Kerry-Lavrov discussions hit snags Friday over ways to ensure all chemical stockpiles are identified, an official familiar with the talks said, but a second official said the two sides were “coming closer to agreement.”
Meeting in Washington with Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, Obama said he had told the visiting leader that he hopes the U.S.-Russian discussions “bear fruit.”
“But I repeated what I've said publicly, which is that any agreement needs to be verifiable and enforceable,” Obama said.
Both Kerry and Lavrov called the talks productive, and they will continue Saturday. And they agreed to meet in about two weeks when both will attend the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering in New York.
“Now that the Assad government has joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, we have to engage our professionals together” with U.N. officials, Lavrov said Friday, “to design a road which would make sure that this issue is resolved quickly, professionally, as soon as practical.”
Assad sent a letter Thursday to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying that on Monday he will sign the international accord banning chemical weapons.
The Geneva talks are aimed at creating a blueprint for identifying and seizing chemical weapons that the United States claims the ruling Syrian government used to gas to death more than 1,400 people last month.
Kerry and Lavrov said successful diplomacy on chemical weapons could help revive negotiations they jointly proposed months ago between the Syrian government and the opposition fighting to unseat Assad.
A possible follow-up peace conference “will obviously depend on the capacity to have success here,” Kerry said after he and Lavrov met Friday morning with Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria.
Syria, which is not a party to the Geneva talks, denied until this week that it had chemical weapons. Under Russian pressure, Assad agreed to acknowledge the stockpiles and join the international weapons ban. Both Syria and Russia have said that the Aug. 21 attack, in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, was carried out by rebels, not the government.
The site of the attack was visited last month by U.N. investigators who are due to brief Ban on their findings Sunday. Ban told a gathering of women’s groups Friday that the inspectors have obtained “overwhelming” evidence that the attack took place, according to a U.N.-based diplomat.
“I believe that the report will be an overwhelming report that chemical weapons were used, even though I cannot say it publicly at this time,” Ban said in comments he apparently thought were confidential but that were captured on an internal television feed.
Ban did not say who was responsible for using chemical weapons or what nerve agent was used.
But the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unreleased results, said that “the report will clearly say it is sarin” gas and that “it clearly hints that the regime is the perpetrator.”
Ban is scheduled to present the findings to the Security Council on Monday.



Lynch reported from the United Nations, and DeYoung reported from Washington. Scott Wilson in Washington contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/officials-us-wont-seek-un-approval-for-strike-if-syria-reneges-on-chemical-arms-pact/2013/09/13/a203b068-1cb3-11e3-80ac-96205cacb45a_print.html

Nigel Farage offers Barroso some cooling news

Over a million Catalans lock hands in independence chain

Over one million Catalans have formed a human chain stretching over 400-kilometers along Catalonia's Mediterranean coast, locking hands to show their support for Barcelona’s independence from Spain.

According to local authorities an estimated 1.6 million people in the region flooded the Catalan region wearing red, yellow and blue pro-independence flags and shouting “independence.” Named the Catalan Way, activists linked 86 towns and villages along the coast. 

Wednesday's display was the highlight of Catalonia's national day, the Diada, which recalls the conquest of Barcelona by Spanish king Philip V's forces.

"We need to put an end to the cultural and economic suffocation we are suffering," said Carme Forcadell, President of the Catalan National Assembly, the grassroots group organising the human chain told the crowds.

"We have come out in our hundreds of thousands into the street to show in a democratic and inclusive way that we are capable of achieving any aim we set ourselves," she said.

Giants walk past Catalans gathering in a bid to create a 400-kilometre (250-mile) human chain, part of a campaign for independence from Spain during Catalonia National Day, or Diada, on Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona, on September 11, 2013 (AFP Photo / Josep Lago)

Catalans, who have their own unique identity, language and culture are seeking independence amid deep recession and austerity measures. The regional capital Barcelona accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economic output. However the unemployment rate remains close to 24 percent while its debts exceed 50 billion euros. Barcelona accuses Madrid of collecting 16 billion euros more in taxes than it spends in Catalonia each year.

Catalans link arms in a bid to create a 400-kilometre (250-mile) human chain, part of a campaign for independence from Spain during Catalonia National Day, or Diada, at FC Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, on September 11, 2013 (AFP Photo / Quique Garcia)

Artur Mas, the regional leader has promised a referendum on secession in 2014, but Madrid has dismissed such a vote as unconstitutional. 

“The breakdown in relations with Spain has become so serious that the only solution is a referendum,” Mas said on Wednesday.

A referendum would be a "unilateral declaration of independence that would have serious consequences for Spain and also for Catalonia" which would have to "bid farewell to the European Union", Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said. 

Catalans gather to create a 400-kilometre (250-mile) human chain, part of a campaign for independence from Spain during Catalonia National Day, or Diada, at the Pasea de Gracia in Barcelona, on September 11, 2013 (AFP Photo / Josep Lago)

Catalans link arms in a bid to create a 400-kilometre (250-mile) human chain, part of a campaign for independence from Spain during Catalonia National Day, or Diada, in front of the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, on September 11, 2013 (AFP Photo / Lluis Gene)

http://rt.com/news/catalonia-rally-independence-spain-731/

A Plea for Caution From Russia, What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria

MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

The United Nations’ founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America’s consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization.

The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy inSyria. But there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government. The United States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organizations. This internal conflict, fueled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world.

Mercenaries from Arab countries fighting there, and hundreds of militants from Western countries and even Russia, are an issue of our deep concern. Might they not return to our countries with experience acquired in Syria? After all, after fighting in Libya, extremists moved on to Mali. This threatens us all.

From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today’s complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.”

But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.

No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect.

The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded.

We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.

A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president’s interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations.

If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.

My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?_r=0