The problem with Syria today can be traced back to when President Obama failed to take action and back up his infamous "red line in the sand" pronouncement.
The Russians were not nearly entrenched in Syria at that time. Now, four years later, there are Russians everywhere. Assad is their guy, and they will protect his Regime. Any military action will in all likelihood turn into a direct confrontation with the Russians.
That puts President Trump in quite a quagmire. Any military action will pose a sure danger of direct conflict with some arm of the Russian Military.
He is right. President Obama left him a mess.
Originally Posted by Jackie S
You are not telling the whole history...It did not appear the House would go along and the public sure as fuck did not want to intervene. What has changed?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author...emical_Weapons
House reaction[edit]
Before the authorization bill had even been drafted in the Senate, much less voted upon, there were already doubts being raised about whether any such measure would pass in the House.
[33] Prior to Obama's announcement that he would seek Congressional approval, there had already been House Republicans that had announced their opposition to intervention in Syria, arguing that the civil war did not pose a threat to the United States.
[33] Doubts about the ability of any legislation authorizing a strike to pass in the House continued over the following week.
[2] The House Armed Services Committee was scheduled to hear from Secretary of State John Kerry about the need for strikes on Syria at a hearing on September 10, 2013.
[2]
Newspaper
The Hill released a whip list with information on which Senators and Representatives had announced their support or opposition for an American military intervention in Syria.
[44] On September 9, the whip list stood at:
- Yes/Leaning Yes: 31 (21 Democrats, 10 Republicans)
- Undecided/Not Clear: 92 (71 Democrats, 21 Republicans)
- No/Leaning No: 144 (109 Republicans, 35 Democrats)
The Washington Post also created its own whip count of where the votes stand on Syria.
[45] Their count on September 13th stood at:
- Yes: 25 (17 Democrats, 8 Republicans)
- Undecided: 145 (111 Democrats, 34 Republicans)
- Leaning No: 101 (38 Democrats, 63 Republicans)
- Against: 162 (34 Democrats, 91 Republicans)
A proposed alternative bill favored by Democratic Representatives Chris Van Hollen and Gerald E. Connolly would impose restrictions on President Obama significantly tighter than the Senate bill.
[32] Under their proposal, the president would only be allowed one round of missile strikes, with possible additional strikes in the event of additional chemical weapons attacks.
[32]
Debate and discussion[edit]
Popular Opinion[edit]
A CNN/ORC International poll was released on September 9, 2013 with data about U.S. attitudes towards Syria and the possibility of U.S. military intervention.
[46] The poll revealed that a "strong majority" of citizens do not want Congress to authorize a military strike against the Assad government.
[46] Over 70% of respondents did not believe that a military strike would achieve US goals, and a similar percentage do not believe it is in the United States' national interest to intervene