* After President Obama decided to seek Congressional authorization for strikes against Syria, his administration submitted a resolution whose language appears up for negotiation. Two Senate hearings (one of them classified) are scheduled tomorrow to bolster support for military action. A vote should take place next week when Congress reconvenes from recess. WaPo | Politico | NYT.
* France’s president François Hollande does not need parliamentary approval to proceed with a military intervention, but he may still seek it after the position from the US Congress is known. The French government rules out proceeding with strikes if the US is not involved. In the meantime, non-binding debates will take place in both chambers tomorrow. RTL / Le Figaro [in French].
* The French Ministry of Defense released an unclassified briefing [PDF in French] asserting that the August 21st attack near Damascus could not have been staged nor perpetrated by the rebels, indeed was conducted with chemical weapons, and had to be ordered and conducted by the Assad regime.
* WSJ: U.S. Still Hasn’t Armed Syrian Rebels.
* Reuters: Potential action against Syria reignites U.S. budget concerns.
* Firms from Russia and the UAE are going to work together on armed unmanned helicopters.
* The S-300 missile systems that Russia sold, then unsold to Iran, have been scrapped, according to Almaz-Antey boss Vladislav Menschikov. Whether Iran will accept Antey-2500 systems instead is unclear.
* A Swedish defense debate: Vladimir Putin is an autocrat, but his big defense modernization plans are not panning out.
* The Diplomat argues that proponents of nuclearization for South Korea should look at the India-Pakistan track record:
“As South Korea weighs whether to join the nuclear armed club, the antagonistic experience of new nuclear states in South Asia – not the more optimistic U.S.-Soviet model – should feature most prominently in those debates.”
* ISAF commander USMC General Joseph Dunford, about the casualties faced by Afghan troops, at rates of upwards of 100 dead a week: “I’m not assuming that those casualties are sustainable.”
* Phalanx weapons, originally developed for US Navy ships, are also used to protect FOBs in Afghanistan. Video below:
