President Obama said the UN would likely offer up "the usual hocus-pocus’" if the United States did not advocate for an international response to the Syrian crisis Friday at his press conference at the G20 summit in Russia:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: No, I said some. But I -- what I have also said is that the American people have gone through a lot when it comes to the military over the last decade or so. And so I understand that.
And -- and when you start talking about chemical weapons and their proliferation, you know, those images of those bodies can sometimes be forgotten pretty quickly. The news cycle moves -- moves on. Frankly, if we weren't talking about the need for an international response right now, this wouldn't be what everybody would be asking about. You know, there would be some resolutions that were being proffered in the United Nations and the usual hocus-pocus, but the world and the country would have moved on.
So trying to impart a sense of urgency about this, why we can't have an environment in which, over time, people will start thinking we can get away with chemical weapons use, it's a hard sell but it's something I believe in. And as I explained to Brianna , in this context, me making sure that the American people understand it I think is important before I take action.