U.S. President Obama is calling for Americans to support punishment for Syria for purportedly gassing its own people.

In a televised speech last night, Obama tried to assure a war-weary nation that a military strike is necessary because such atrocities should not be accepted.

Obama said if America fails to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons, and as the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas weapons and using them.

“This is what’s at stake, that is why after careful deliberations, I determined that it is in the national security interest of the United States to respond to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike. The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons to degrade his regime’s ability to use them, and to make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use. That’s my judgment as Commander-in-Chief.”

Obama is still hopeful for a diplomatic solution after Russia’s foreign minister said Syria had agreed to surrender all its chemical weapons to an international team. He’s asked American congress to postpone a vote on the issue, and is sending U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with his Russian counterpart tomorrow.