“They said Obama does not want to go to war in Syria. This myth was demolished by Obama himself. He has eventually turned into a “war president,” a second [George W.] Bush,” Alexei Pushkov, who heads the international affairs committee in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, and who has earned himself a reputation as a prolific Tweeter, said on Friday.

Obama recently asked the US Congress to support a limited military intervention in Syria on the pretext of the alleged use of chemical weapons, which killed hundreds of people last month.

Damascus has vehemently denied the US accusations, saying the chemical attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation to open the way for their supporters to engage in war with Syria.

US had said before that it would only enter the war if a chemical attack was carried out.

In another comment on Twitter last week, Pushkov said President Obama should be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize if the United States carries out a military strike on Syria.

Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” according to a statement on the prize’s website.

Pushkov assumed that the US administration plans a massive attack on Syria to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, not a limited military operation in the country.

"Unlike the popular myth that Obama personally doesn't want this war, I believe Obama has now changed his stance and now actively supports a massive strike on Syria, not just an attack," Pushkov said.

NTJ/SHI