3 Sep 2013
Obama faces opposition in Congress, policymakers fear deep US military involvement
FXstreet.com (Lisbon) - As of late, President Barack Obama's recent efforts to coax the U.S. Congress to back his plan to attack Syria were met with skepticism on yesterday from lawmakers in his own Democratic Party who expressed concern the United States would be dragged into yet another new Middle Eastern conflict.
According to Representative Jim Moran, "There is a lot of skepticism," briefing for Democratic lawmakers by Obama's top national security aides about the response to a chemical weapons attack that U.S. officials say killed 1,429 people on the outskirts of Damascus.
Obama appeared to make some headway however, with two influential Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who came out of a White House meeting convinced that Obama is willing to use air strikes not just to destroy Syrian chemical weapons capability but also to bolster Syrian rebels. McCain, long an advocate of a more robust U.S. approach to Syria, stated failure to get behind strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's forces would be “catastrophic."
However, while Obama faced obstacles at home, key U.S. ally France said it had evidence showing that Assad's government had ordered chemical attacks and was determined to punish him. The French government released a nine-page intelligence document that listed five points that suggested Assad's fighters were behind the "massive and coordinated" August 21 chemical attack.
Obama's abrupt decision to halt plans for a strike against Assad's forces and instead wait for congressional approval has generated a raging debate just as the president prepares to depart on Tuesday on a three-day trip to Sweden and Russia. The biggest obstacle he faces is winning the support of members of his own party in the House of Representatives and conservative Republicans who see little need for the United States to get involved in distant civil wars.
The White House argument is that Syria must be punished for the chemical weapons onslaught and that at stake are the integrity of an international ban on such weapons and the need to safeguard U.S. national security interests and allies Israel, Jordan and Turkey. Conversely, Syria has blamed the attack on rebel forces.
According to Representative Jim Moran, "There is a lot of skepticism," briefing for Democratic lawmakers by Obama's top national security aides about the response to a chemical weapons attack that U.S. officials say killed 1,429 people on the outskirts of Damascus.
Obama appeared to make some headway however, with two influential Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who came out of a White House meeting convinced that Obama is willing to use air strikes not just to destroy Syrian chemical weapons capability but also to bolster Syrian rebels. McCain, long an advocate of a more robust U.S. approach to Syria, stated failure to get behind strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's forces would be “catastrophic."
However, while Obama faced obstacles at home, key U.S. ally France said it had evidence showing that Assad's government had ordered chemical attacks and was determined to punish him. The French government released a nine-page intelligence document that listed five points that suggested Assad's fighters were behind the "massive and coordinated" August 21 chemical attack.
Obama's abrupt decision to halt plans for a strike against Assad's forces and instead wait for congressional approval has generated a raging debate just as the president prepares to depart on Tuesday on a three-day trip to Sweden and Russia. The biggest obstacle he faces is winning the support of members of his own party in the House of Representatives and conservative Republicans who see little need for the United States to get involved in distant civil wars.
The White House argument is that Syria must be punished for the chemical weapons onslaught and that at stake are the integrity of an international ban on such weapons and the need to safeguard U.S. national security interests and allies Israel, Jordan and Turkey. Conversely, Syria has blamed the attack on rebel forces.