Via AFP:

The chaos in Syria will only get worse and destabilize the entire region if the global community fails to act, key figures of the war-torn country’s opposition said Tuesday.

Only Washington can deter Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons and so the US Congress should give the White House the go-ahead to target the strongman, they added.

Ahmad al-Jarba, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, and Salim Idriss, chief of the rebel Free Syrian Army, wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post.

The pair warned that “international apathy and indecision convinces Assad that he is invincible and emboldens him to unleash barbaric horrors on a defenseless population.”

And if his actions are left unchecked, the situation is likely to get even worse, they said. […]

“So far, global inaction and (Assad’s) allies’ protective actions have granted him impunity to terrorize his nation and the region,” they wrote.

“Dithering by the world’s most powerful states empowers not only the vicious Assad regime but also the extremist agenda of the al-Qaeda-style terrorists seeping into Syria from the east.”

“They are fighting not only Assad but, more important, also those who oppose Assad.”

Turning to Congress, the two urged US lawmakers to allow President Barack Obama to take action, saying millions of lives and the safety of the region are at stake.

“Please authorize President Obama to act against Assad and to stop him in his deadly tracks,” they wrote.