Obama meets resistance as he presses case for Syria strike (3)

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Medea Benjamin, co-founder of anti-war group Code Pink, said in the coming week, the American public will be able to see if the Congress will listen to the voice of the people, or will just go ahead and authorize another war.

"This war will not help the Syrian people, it will not help the American people, and it will not help the international rule of law," said Benjamin, noting the use of force is only legal when it is in self-defense or with United Nations Security Council authorization.

Without UN backing, a U.S. strike against Syria is illegal, Benjamin said.

Multiple polls show that the U.S. public is overwhelmingly against the potential strike, and even some political allies of Obama expressed doubt.

Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat, said the administration had not met his criteria for gaining his support: a compelling national security interest, a clearly defined mission with a definitive end, and a coalition of allies.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday stressed the need to take quick moves to respond the alleged use of the deadly gas in Damascus.

Fabius added that all the members of the UN Security Council should denounce the Syrian government and support the use of force.

However, he also said "the solution to end the Syrian crisis will be political."

French President Francois Hollande said he won't declare his decision on how to punish the Syrian regime over the alleged chemical until an UN investigation report on the issue is released.

"I'll await the UN report which will ready in a reasonable delay ... I will have all the elements which allow me to address French people and announce the decision I made (over action against Syria)," he said,

It is unclear when the UN investigator will unveil the report.

"We are not saying when that will be, except as soon as feasible... This is a scientific timeline, not a political timeline," said UN chief spokesman Martin Nesirky.

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