Following the defeat of David Cameron’s motion that Britain should participate in a military strike against Syria, it was expected that the US would attack without British support which would have been largely symbol in any case.

Today Obama has said that he believes that he has the authority to order a military strike without going through Congress but he would take that route because it would make the nation stronger. My intuition is that the President has no enthusiasm for military action but is being pushed by the likes of John Kerry and those shadowy figures who really pull the strings in the US.

Obama knows that an attack would be immoral and extremely dangerous and he is stalling for time/passing the buck (somehow the image of Pilate asking the crowd whether Jesus or Barabbas should be freed comes to mind). Obama would not have been able to do this had not Cameron been defeated in the Commons. And Cameron was defeated because of public opposition and because MPs received an avalanche of objections from their constituents. The British public have played their part it is now up to the Americans to really put pressure on their representatives over the next few days.