"We agreed disarm him"

Express     September 20, 2013

BACKGROUND

The United States and Russia have agreed a plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons by the middle of next year. The American Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, meeting in Geneva, announced that President Assad's government would be given seven days to declare all its stocks and must provide "unfettered" access to international inspectors. Watch video >>

THE CARTOON

The cartoon by Chappatte from "Le Temps" shows Kerry holding a photo of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and Lavrov holding one of Barack Obama. They are both saying the same thing, "We agreed disarm him."

EXPLANATION

The cartoonist is making the point that although they have reached an agreement, the Americans and Russians do not have the same objectives. America wants to make sure that the Syrian regime will no longer be able to use chemical weapons, while Russia wants to avert the threat of a US military strike on its Syrian ally.

VOCABULARY

If you disarm somebody, you to take a weapon or weapons away from them. Kitui county assembly members have demanded that Somali herdsmen be disarmed.