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Congress goes after Assad for war crimes

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Feb. 29.
A woman, affected by what activists say was a gas attack, breathes through an oxygen mask inside a field hospital in Kfar Zeita village in the central province of Hama April 12, 2014. Syrian opposition activists have posted photographs and video that they say shows an improvised chlorine bomb to back up claims that President Bashar al-Assad's forces used chemical weapons in two attacks last week. Rebels and the government have blamed each other for the alleged poison gas attacks on Friday and Saturday on re

Congress is setting its sights on Bashar al-Assad and his regime amid concerns that the Obama administration has all but given up on deposing the Syrian strongman.

The House Foreign Affairs panel on March 2 is set to mark up a resolution from Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., calling on the Obama administration to push for the creation of a war crimes tribunal to investigate and prosecute violations "whether committed by the officials of the Government of Syria or other parties to the civil war." The move comes as Republicans and some Democrats are convinced that Secretary of State John Kerry is caving in to Russian demands to keep Assad in power.

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