Syria considering placing it's chemical weapons under "international monitors" to avoid US strike

President Obama said Monday that he would seriously consider the idea being floated that, in order to avoid military force for using chemical weapons, Syria place it's stock pile of chemical weapons under international monitor to ensure no future use of such weapons.

From USA Today:

If we can exhaust these diplomatic efforts and come up with a formula that gives the international community a verifiable, enforceable mechanism to deal with these chemical weapons in Syria, then I'm all for it," Obama added in an interview with PBS NewsHour.

"But we're going to have to see specifics," Obama said. "And I think it is reasonable to assume that we would not be at this point if there were not a credible military threat standing behind the norm against the use of chemical weapons."

The comments from Obama came after Secretary of State John Kerry suggested earlier on Monday that if Assad turned over "every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week" he could avoid military action. Those remarks triggered proposal on Monday from the Russians that Damascus place its chemical weapons under international monitors to head off a confrontation

Obama also expressed pessimism about Congress approving a military strike against Syria, telling NBC News in a separate "I wouldn't say I'm confident" about the measure passing.

The Syrian government said Monday it welcomed the Russian proposal to avoid a U.S.military strike by placing its chemical weapons under international monitors.