DHAKA: A Syrian caricature shows US president Barack Obama smile and pluck the petals of a daisy, as he wonders, ‘Should I bomb? Or shouldn`t I bomb?’

Syrians on both sides of their civil war are resorting to black humour, sharing jokes and cartoons via mobile phone and the Internet.

After saying he had the authority to act on his own to strike the Syrian regime for its deadly use of chemical weapons near Damascus on August 21, Obama then referred the matter to Congress for a vote.

Now, with the prospects of a quick congressional vote diminishing and Obama cautiously welcoming a Russian initiative that would see president Bashar al-Assad hand over his chemical arsenal, an imminent decision by the American president is even less likely.

That apparent hesitation to act has given both pro- and anti-Assad Syrians a field day.

One Syrian posted a picture of Obama on Facebook with a biting caption that reads, ‘When Congress gives me the green light to strike, I will ask my wife Michelle and my in-laws. If they say it’s alright, I’ll go ahead!’

Meanwhile, an Assad opponent said on the Internet he wants to ‘sue Barack Obama for spreading false information and for breaching the peace’, 10 days after announcements were made of what seemed to be an imminent strike.

Another joke making the rounds on anti-regime Facebook pages was much darker, more than two years into a conflict that has left more than 100,000 dead.

‘Mr President, you are right. We should wait another three years until the Syrian people are extinct,’ it read.

Cartoons mocking Obama’s ‘indecision’ made the rounds, with one depicting the US president as Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2020 HRS, SEPT 10, 2013
RoR/RK