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Obama gaining bi-partisan support on military strike against Syria
Boehner’s support is key, but opposition Republicans in Congress do not speak with one voice.
And after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, polls show most Americans opposed to any new military action overseas. Some lawmakers say Obama still hasn’t presented good evidence that Assad’s forces were responsible for the August 21 attack. Others say he hasn’t explained why intervening is in America’s interest.
Those questions come a decade after the Bush administration badly misrepresented the case that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Tuesday’s meeting included Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, who were going to Capitol Hill for testimony later in the day before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A classified briefing open to all members of Congress was planned as well.
House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor also said he would support Obama’s call for military action against Syria.
Obama also won conditional support Monday from two of his fiercest foreign policy critics, Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham.
McCain said Tuesday he is prepared to vote for the authorization that Obama seeks, but he told reporters he wouldn’t back a resolution that fails to change the battlefield equation, where Assad still has the upper hand.
Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters he believes the panel will back Obama if the administration explains “the full case” for the use of force as well as what it sees as the end result.
“It sends a message” not just to Syria but to Iran, North Korea and terrorist groups, Menendez said.
