Remarks by President Obama in press conference at G-20 - Press Release - POLITICO.com:
Over 1,400 people were gassed. Over 400 of them were children.
This is not something we’ve fabricated. This is not something that we
are using as an excuse for military action. As I said last night, I was
elected to end wars, not start them. I've spent the last four and a
half years doing everything I can to reduce our reliance on military
power as a means of meeting our international obligations and protecting
the American people. But what I also know is, is that there are times
where we have to make hard choices if we’re going to stand up for the
things that we care about. And I believe that this is one of those
times.
And if we end up using the U.N. Security Council not as a means of
enforcing international norms and international law, but rather as a
barrier to acting on behalf of international norms and international
law, then I think people, rightly, are going to be pretty skeptical
about the system and whether it can work to protect those children that
we saw in those videos.
And sometimes the further we get from the horrors of that, the
easier it is to rationalize not making tough choices. And I understand
that. This is not convenient. This is not something that I think a lot
of folks around the world find an appetizing set of choices. But the
question is, do these norms mean something? And if we’re not acting,
what does that say?
If we’re just issuing another statement of condemnation, or passing
resolutions saying “wasn't that terrible,” if people who decry
international inaction in Rwanda and say how terrible it is that there
are these human rights violations that take place around the world and
why aren’t we doing something about it — and they always look to the
United States — why isn’t the United States doing something about this,
the most powerful nation on Earth? Why are you allowing these terrible
things to happen? And then, if the international community turns around
when we’re saying it’s time to take some responsibility and says, well,
hold on a second, we’re not sure — that erodes our ability to maintain
the kind of norms that we're looking at.