Administration's Syria plan: limited operation with “downstream” effect
in Syria. “And we will find a way to make our use of force effective.”
The Washington Post notes that the debate has turned from weighing the Syrian government’s culpability in the attack to weighing the merits of inserting the U.S. military into a conflict which is in its third year.
Obama, who said he had the constitutional authority to act without a congressional resolution, said such a resolution would send a stronger message. He called for a quick vote after Congress returns from recess next week.
Obama emphasized that the proposed military action “does not involve boots on the ground.”
“This is not Iraq, and this is not Afghanistan,” he said.
Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, supported Obama, saying that she “supports the president’s effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regime’s horrific use of chemical weapons.”
Congressional leaders expressed strong support for the proposed strike.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters: “I’m going to support the president’s call for action. I believe that my colleagues should support this call for action.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) said he intends “to vote to provide the president of the United States the option to use military force in Syria.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) voiced support for a strike, saying Assad had acted far outside the norms of civilized behavior.
The Post notes that at one point during the hearing, Kerry said the congressional resolution authorizing force should not absolutely rule out the deployment of U.S. troops, a remark that he was quick to clarify after the objections of some members of the panel.
“Let’s shut that door now as tight as we can,” Kerry said. “All I did was raise a hypothetical question about some possibility, and I’m thinking out loud about how to protect America’s interests. Whatever prohibition clarifies it to Congress and the American people, there will not be American boots on the ground with respect to the civil war.”
All three administration officials said U.S. leadership and credibility are on the line in Syria, with Iran among those watching the American response.
“Iran is hoping you look the other way,” Kerry told the committee. “Hezbollah is hoping that isolationism will prevail. North Korea is hoping that ambivalence carries the day.”
Members of the Foreign Relations Committee will be hearing classified information in a closed session today, then begin debating Wednesday a new draft of a resolution on the use of force in Syria. The Post reports that the resolution would permit up to ninety days of military action against the Syrian government and bar the deployment of U.S. combat troops in Syria but permit the deployment of a small rescue mission in the event of an emergency. The White House also would be required within thirty days of enactment of the resolution to send lawmakers a plan for a diplomatic solution to end the violence in Syria.
