An activist holds up a placard, which reads: "You will be defeated. This is your destiny", during a sit-in near the U.S. embassy in Awkar, north of Beirut, against potential U.S. strikes on Syria September 6, 2013. U.S. officials ordered non-emergency personnel and their family members out of Lebanon on Friday "due to threats" the U.S. embassy in Beirut said in statement. The picture on the bottom right of the placard shows a scene from the 1983 suicide bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

By Paul Eckert and Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States tightened security at diplomatic missions in Lebanon and Turkey on Friday because of potential threats, ordering personnel out of Lebanon and offering to evacuate those in Adana in southeastern Turkey.

The State Department also warned U.S. citizens against traveling in Lebanon and southeastern Turkey and urged Americans in the rest of Turkey "to be alert to the potential for violence."

Officials did not offer specifics about the threats, which were revealed less than a week before the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and amid an intensifying U.S. debate over President Barack Obama's plans to strike Syria.

"These are potential threats," said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters after the warnings were issued.

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A supporter of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad gestures while wearing a glove with fake blood in f …

"Obviously, the tension ... in the region, including in Syria, plays a role in this," Harf said. She said she was not aware of any specific threats to either post.

"Given the current tensions the region, as well as potential threats to U.S. government facilities and personnel, we are taking these steps out of an abundance of caution to protect our employees and their families, and local employees and visitors to our facilities," Harf wrote in an earlier statement.

The official warnings did not mention Syria, where Washington says troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out a poison gas attack that killed more than 1,400 people in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on August 21.

Obama has asked the U.S. Congress to back his plan for limited strikes in response to the chemical weapons attack.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday the United States had intercepted an order from an Iranian official instructing militants in Iraq to attack U.S. interests in Baghdad if the United States launches a military strike in Syria, a close ally of Iran.

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An activist shows his hands while wearing gloves covered in fake blood during a sit-in near the U.S. …

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was a likely target, according to unidentified American officials quoted by the newspaper. The State Department and the CIA declined to comment on the report.

Harf also would not comment. "We have not taken any action in terms of our posts in Iraq," she said.

"Clearly we remain concerned and (are) looking at the security throughout the region," she said at a news briefing.

UNSPECIFIED THREATS

In Lebanon, officials ordered non-emergency personnel and their family members out of the country "due to threats," the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said in statement.

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Activists carry banners, Lebanese flags and pictures of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as policem …

The State Department urged "U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon because of current safety and security concerns."

In Turkey, U.S. officials offered voluntary evacuation to reduce its diplomatic presence at the consulate in Adana, Turkey, "because of threats against U.S. government facilities and personnel." Adana is near the border with Syria.

"The Consulate General in Adana has been authorized to draw down its non-emergency staff and family members," the State Department said in a statement.

It also recommended "that U.S. citizens defer non-essential travel to southeastern Turkey."

Americans who remain in Lebanon or southeastern Turkey should make their own emergency plans, officials said.

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A woman holds up a picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad while carrying a Syrian flag during …

The State Department also renewed its warning to U.S. citizens to "defer all non-essential travel" to Pakistan, where on August 9 it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. staff from the consulate in Lahore. The department said public and consular services in the city remain unavailable.

Nearly 20 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa were closed early last month when the United States said it had picked up unspecified terrorism threats. The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, shut down for more than two weeks.

In April 1983, Iranian-backed Islamists blew up the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. In October of that year, Shi'ite Muslim suicide bombers linked to Tehran blew up the U.S. Marine and French barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Marines and 58 French paratroopers.

On September 11, 2012, an attack on U.S. diplomatic posts in the Libyan city of Benghazi killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.

(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

War-Weary Nation? Why Fewer Want Action in Syria Than in Past Conflicts

This satellite image shows some of the destruction in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria. On Sept. 9, 2012, Aleppo's Karm al-Jabal district (top) is completely intact. By Dec. 15, 2012, however, large areas of the district (outlined in red) have

As the United States mulls military action in Syria, public support for such a strike may be the lowest of any American intervention in the last two decades, a new Gallup poll found.

On Sept. 3-4, Gallup surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,021 American adults and found that 36 percent favor intervening in Syria for the suspected use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad's government against its own people.

Meanwhile, 51 percent oppose such action and 13 percent say they are unsure. [5 Lethal Chemical Warfare Agents]

Gallup noted that Americans tend to rally around military actions after they first begin. The polling organization observed such a pattern in previous conflicts.

Before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, for example, 59 percent favored military action in the country, but 76 percent approved after it began. Initial support for action in Afghanistan in 2001 was much higher — at 82 percent — and even that grew to 90 percent once the war started, Gallup found at the time.

But Gallup says the low level of support for war measures in Syria could be part of an overall trend.

"Americans, at least initially, were much more supportive of previous military engagements," Gallup officials said. "But after more than a decade of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq, war fatigue may be lingering."

The pollsters point to post-intervention public support for the United States' 2011 military action in Libya, which was also at a low of 47 percent.

Among recent conflicts, pre-strike public support was the lowest for U.S. engagement in Kosovo in 1999. A month before the United States participated in a NATO bombing campaign to prevent genocidal attacks against Kosovar Albanians, Americans were divided against such action (43 percent in favor versus 45 percent against). There was a slight uptick in support after the military strikes began, with 51 percent in favor of U.S. intervention and 45 percent against, according to a Gallup poll conducted from April 30-May 2, 1999.

Like in past conflicts, Gallup's recent polling data have also revealed a partisan divide in opinions about potential military action. In the case of Syria, Democrats are divided on the question of intervention (45 percent in favor vs. 43 percent against) while a strong majority (58 percent) of Republicans remain opposed. Gallup attributes these figures to the fact that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, is leading the call for action.

Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.

Why fewer Americans want action in Syria

A new survey shows support for a strike may be the lowest of any intervention in the last two decades.
Poll: Attitudes may change

By Roberta Rampton and Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It seems that everyone in Washington is talking about it except President Barack Obama: When Congress votes on the administration's request to use military force in Syria, the future of his presidency could well be on the line.

A defeat, a distinct possibility, would hobble Obama in affairs both foreign and domestic, particularly if fellow Democrats collaborate in it.

It will hurt him at a critical juncture, as he confronts not only Syria, but the nuclear activities of Iran and North Korea, another round of battles with Republicans over fiscal issues, an immigration bill, and a possibly difficult nomination fight over a new chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Using Obama's presidency as an argument as Congress ponders a resolution authorizing military action is off-limits for the administration - it would make the debate about Obama and cost the president votes from some Republicans he is counting on.

"My credibility is not on the line," Obama said at a news conference in Stockholm on Wednesday, five days after he announced he would seek congressional authorization for a strike on Syria over an August 21 chemical weapons attack in that country.

"The international community's credibility is on the line. And America and Congress' credibility is on the line."

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

But if ever there was an "elephant" in a room, the Obama legacy is it.

A 'no' vote would be a "catastrophe" for Obama, said David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official who is now president of Garten Rothkopf, an international advisory firm.

"It would ratify the perception of him as a lame duck at one of the earliest points in recent presidential memory," Rothkopf said. "He would appear to be weakened and unlikely to get much done during the remainder of his term."

"I think a 'no' vote would be a huge slap at the president," said George Edwards, a presidential scholar at Texas A&M University. "It would seem to tie his hands."

It would hurt Obama even more if many Democrats - members of his own party - vote against him, which at the moment seems likely.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner in particular knows the consequences of being a leader with a diminished following. During the fiscal cliff confrontation in December, his fellow Republicans in the House defeated a proposal he thought might help resolve the fight over tax increases and heavy automatic spending cuts.

Boehner has since taken a back seat in confrontations with Obama in part because he can no longer speak for his caucus in the House.

Obama will confront a difficult challenge in October, when he faces Republican demands to make spending cuts in exchange for an increase in the nation's borrowing limit, the debt ceiling.

He faces another potential fight if he nominates Larry Summers, said to be his current favorite to replace Ben Bernanke at the Fed. Bernanke's term ends January 31 and the White House has said an announcement on his successor is expected in the autumn.

At stake domestically in the Syria vote is the president's "political capital," the influence that presidents gain with every victory and lose with every defeat, particularly if they have been personally engaged in the issue.

IMPACT ON NEXT CRISIS

Political capital is unquantifiable, and the impact on domestic issues a matter of speculation. The significance of defeat for Obama in the international sphere, beyond Syria, is more clear.

Indeed, for Obama and his national security team, the vote on Syria appears to represent a desire to get a clearer fix on whether they can count on Congress if the Iranian nuclear standoff comes to a head or North Korea escalates its provocations to new levels, a U.S. official said.

A congressional "no" vote this time around would weigh heavily against seeking congressional approval should Obama feel the need to use force again.

Without reference to Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry has painted a dire picture in hearings on the resolution. A 'no' vote from lawmakers, he and other officials have argued, would embolden Iran and North Korea and make it more likely that a terrorist group might use illicit weapons.

No one doubts that Republicans would use a defeat to their advantage. A central Republican critique of Obama is that he is a weak leader. A 'no' vote on Syria delivered in part by Democratic lawmakers would strengthen their argument, just as the administration is preparing for the fiscal battles of the autumn.

While the administration has sought to divorce the issue from Obama personally, the stakes for his presidency are on the minds of many Democrats in Congress as they consider their votes.

"Sure, you weigh that," California Democratic Representative George Miller, who has not decided which way to vote, told Reuters in an interview. "You obviously weigh that, but that cannot be the determining factor . ... Obviously, I want the president to succeed."

But "when I run into my constituents," Miller added, "I've been asking them their opinion. They are very, very deeply concerned about any involvement by us there."

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai, Warren Strobel, Susan Cornwell, Susan Heavey and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Fred Barbash and Peter Cooney)

Syria vote holds high stakes for Obama

Washington is buzzing about the potential political fallout should Congress vote against using force in Syria.
'Elephant in the room'

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — European foreign ministers meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are expected to urge the United States to hold off any military action in Syria until U.N. inspectors report on the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Syria was a key topic of Kerry's discussions Saturday with fellow diplomats attending an informal meeting of the European Union in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. He also was to update them on ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

European officials have been skeptical about whether any military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime can be effective.

Britain's Parliament has already voted against military action. And French President Francois Hollande displayed sudden caution on Friday, saying he would wait for a U.N. report before deciding whether to intervene militarily. It was the first time Hollande said he would wait for the U.N. report.

The U.N. inspectors' report is expected later this month, although some European officials are asking the U.N. to speed up the probe or issue an interim report.

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United States Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for an informal meeting of EU ministers for fore …

France, which firmly backs the Syrian rebels and has strategic and historic interest in the region, had been ready to act last week but held off when President Barack Obama declared last weekend that he would seek the backing of Congress first.

Hollande's announcement appeared to catch French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius off guard. Earlier on Friday, he told EU foreign ministers meeting in Vilnius that there was no need to wait for the U.N. report because it would simply confirm what was already known — that the chemical weapons attack had occurred — but would not say who was responsible.

On Mideast peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Kerry is expected to ask the EU to reconsider a funding ban on Israeli institutions operating in occupied territories. The EU decision, announced in July, marked a new international show of displeasure with Israeli settlements built on lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

The Palestinians claim some of those territories — the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — for their hoped-for state. The EU ban applies to grants, prizes and financial instruments and that the new funding guidelines go into effect in 2014. The EU issues dozens of grants, totaling millions of euros, to Israeli universities, companies and researchers every year.

In Vilnius, Kerry also is meeting with top Lithuanian officials and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton before departing for Paris.

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United States Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for an informal meeting of EU ministers for fore …

On Sunday, he is to meet in France with representatives of Arab nations and travel to London where he will hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He meets with British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday in London before returning to Washington.

___

Associated Press writer Raf Casert in Vilnius, Lithuania, contributed to this report.

Europe challenges the U.S. on Syria

European officials may urge the U.S. to hold off on military action until U.N. inspectors release their findings.
France pivots

President Barack Obama on Saturday warned US lawmakers against turning "a blind eye" to Syria, as Washington sought to muster European Union support for military strikes against the Damascus regime.

Fresh from a G20 summit in Saint Petersburg where Obama failed to win over world leaders to his cause, the president urged Congress to authorise an intervention over President Bashar al-Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.

"We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria," Obama said in his weekly address.

"That's why I call on members of Congress, from both parties, to come together and stand up for the kind of world we want to live in; the kind of world we want to leave our children and future generations."

Congress reconvenes on Monday and Obama is set to address the nation on Tuesday about a possible US response to the August 21 attack that left hundreds dead on the outskirts of Damascus.

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Lebanese supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shows their hands -- dabbed in red paint to …

Faced with a war-weary US public and little international support, Obama is bracing for an uphill battle to convince American lawmakers to back military action against Assad's regime.

According to a Washington Post survey, 224 of the current 433 House members were either "no" or "leaning no" on military action as of Friday. A large number, 184, were undecided, with just 25 backing a strike.

The Senate and the House are expected to vote on the issue within the next two weeks.

Amid deep global divisions over the Syria crisis -- with Assad ally Russia strongly arguing against any intervention -- US Secretary of State John Kerry has travelled to Europe to bolster support for military action.

Kerry went into informal talks with the EU's 28 foreign ministers in Lithuania, which currently holds the EU's rotating chair, with the bloc itself sharply split on Syria and most nations highly reticent over military action.

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A Syrian rebel takes aim at regime forces in the northern city of Aleppo, on August 26, 2013. Presid …

In France, so far the sole EU nation determined to join a US-led strike, the latest public opinion poll showed 68 percent of people opposed to military action in war-torn Syria, an increase of nine percentage points since late August.

In Vilnius, Kerry pressed the case for punitive action against Syria over last month's deadly gas attack, which the United States says was carried out by Assad's regime -- a claim denied by Moscow.

A State Department official said Kerry expected "a fairly detailed discussion about our thinking" but noted "that there are divisions within the EU about what is the exact sequencing of the need for an international response."

As talks between Kerry and his EU counterparts dragged well beyond schedule, also touching on the Middle East peace process, EU diplomats reported intense backroom negotiations taking place to seek a consensus on Syria.

France and Denmark are supportive of a US-led strike but Germany, Sweden and others were refusing to endorse action without a UN mandate or a debate within a UN framework.

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An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on August 26, 2013 allegedly shows a UN inspect …

The talks take place after Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin failed to bridge their differences at the G20 summit of top global powers.

Just over half of the G20 states signed up to a statement calling for a "strong" response to last month's alleged chemical attack, with Britain, France, Italy and Spain the only EU countries of the 11 nations that signed.

The statement called for a response that would "send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated".

It did not specify military action and European diplomats said the language remained vague.

Putin has warned it would be "outside the law" to attack without the UN's blessing.

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US Secretary of State John Kerry is welcomed by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton …

Many European nations too are urging a postponement of any action until the release of a much-anticipated report by United Nations inspectors on the deadly August 21 attacks that left hundreds dead.

At the G20, French President Francois Hollande vowed to wait for the report before joining any military action, a decision welcomed by Germany.

In Vilnius, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had urged the UN on Friday to publish its report "as quickly as possible" to help Europe's divided leaders determine a response.

A US State Department official in Vilnius told AFP that while Kerry had heard those requests, "he also made clear that the United States has not made the decision to wait (for the UN report)".

Russia and China -- both veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council -- have on three occasions voted down resolutions that would have put pressure on Assad.

Washington meanwhile is evacuating non-essential embassy staff from Beirut and urging Americans to avoid all travel to Lebanon and southern Turkey.

Later Saturday, Kerry is due to fly to Paris for talks with French officials. He will meet Arab League leaders there on Sunday to update them on Syria and on progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

He will travel on to London for talks late Sunday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, before flying home Monday.

Pope Francis has appealed for a peaceful solution to the crisis, calling on the world to unite on Saturday in a day of fasting and prayer for Syria. He will lead the way with a five-hour vigil in St Peter's Square.