President Obama addressed the nation on September 10, 2013, to discuss an attack on Syria for their use of chemical weapons. The critical situation in Syria has been brewing for several years and now has come to a climatic point. President Obama's goal is to persuade the American public to agree with his decision to act on this critical situation. He explains why we must act, lists what his possibilities are, and refutes arguments made against acting. Through this structure Obama tries to persuade all audiences.

While President Obama explains why the United States must be involved in this situation he strategically places sentences to convince the American public. He first explains what has happened in Syria and uses imagery like, "...men, woman, and children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath, a father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk." Obama uses the imagery in the quote to tug at the emotion of the audience, especially the emotions mothers and fathers. This emotion implores the audience to feel sympathy for those who were affected by this attack. Thus, giving them a motive for action against the Assad regime. President Obama uses this to his advantage in the beginning to grab the attention of the audience and keep them in a curious state of mind for the rest of his speech. He did not start his speech with what we were going to do because the audience might not know what was happening in Syria. Obama is leading into what we are going to do in this critical situation, but he needs the American public to be informed of the current situation.

Obama later states a fact for those who are not sympathetic towards Syria's people, "And in 1997, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved an international agreement prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, now joined by 189 governments that represent 98 percent of humanity." He uses this statement after the imagery to appeal to those who think logically and not emotionally. He puts this statement after the emotional one because those who do not trust government will need the facts to agree on an issue. Here he is not only talking to the American public, but he is calling out the other governments and nations that agreed with prohibiting the use of chemical weapons. At this point in his speech he is not only talking to the United States, but he has addressed the international audience. He does this before he introduces what the United States is going to do because he wants the other nations to know what the United States in capable of and use this situation to be the example.

Next President Obama address's the nation of the plans that he has developed for the critical situation in Syria. A targeted military strike is best plan in this situation according to Obama, "...that it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike." This is interesting because he does not state the peaceful route first. He dives right into what the military will do. Part of the audience will like that the United States is finally acting like a leader and not tolerating this behavior. He puts this before the peaceful route because his audience will view this as a back up plan. 

The peaceful route is encouraging to the United States and the international audience. President Obama discusses the peaceful route, "...but this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force..." President Obama is discussing the peaceful route that includes Russia, who is a close ally with Syria, to encourage Assad to give the chemical weapons to the UN Security Council and the weapons will be destroyed. President Obama gives this good news to the public. The military families support the peaceful solution because they are tired of all the war the United States has been involved in. Since other countries are involved in this situation the citizens of those nations want it to end peacefully and move on. He is persuading all audiences that he will pursue all peaceful routes until military action is needed. 

President Obama takes an interesting turn in his speech. After he explains the military strike option for action he answers some questions from the audeience. Letters from American citizens and concerns from Congress have questioned the United States involvement in Syria. A member of Congress asked if a pinprick military strike will do anything to intimidate the Assad regime and they will give up their chemical weapons.President Obama said in his address that, "Even a limited strike will send a massage to Assad that no other nation can deliver." This is encouraging to the audience because it assures that we have a stronger military than Assad's military. Those who are watching internationally might feel intimidated by this statement because the leader of the most powerful nation in this world is pressuring another nation. In this statement using the word limited ensures that the American public knows exactly what he is talking about. The word is basic enough for the international audience to understand. The President is refuting arguments made against acting in this critical situation. 

He even persuades his audience by saying, "Many of you have asked..." This shows the audience that Obama really has thought about the American public. He cares about the future of this nation, but he does not want the United States to just sit back and watch as the Assad regime gains momentum. The question and answer section of his speech is important to his audience because those are important questions that needed to be addressed. Obama persuaded most of his audience that action is needed through this portion of his address. 

In the end President Obama mentions parts of his audience to come together in this critical situation and take away a threat in this world. The protests that have turned into a civil war in Syria has changed the dynamic of the United States involvement. Because of the chemical weapons used by the Assad regime the United States is pursuing ways to obtain the chemical weapons. Obama's efforts in his address described what happened in late august. In the organization of his address to the nation he explained why we must act in this critical situation, what plans are in place and answered uncertainties that the audience has. President Obama uses this structure to persuade his audience in his address on Syria.

