By putting on hold for at least 10 days what looked like an imminent US military strike against Syria, an increasingly isolated President Barack Obama has managed to involve US Congress with the decision-making on a clearly unpopular push to launch a new military offensive.
Obama’s surprise turnaround in seeking Congressional authorisation for use of force against Syria has evoked mixed reaction from lawmakers, with many welcoming it but some accusing him of abdicating his own responsibility.
In his statement on Saturday, Obama said he has decided that the United States “should” take military action against Syrian regime targets, adding that as President of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy, he would seek Congressional authorisation for the mission.
A vigorous debate is on in Washington as to what he would do if the Congress, notably the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, rejects his authorisation.
Secretary of State John Kerry, however, asserted in TV interviews on Sunday that the President has the right to press ahead with a strike even if the Congress were to vote against use of force. “He has the right to do that no matter what the Congress does,” Kerry said.
Obama himself touched on this aspect in his statement, noting: “While I believe I have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorisation, I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course, and our actions will be even more effective.”
Analysts believe Obama is trying to break out of an isolation resulting from strong anti-war sentiments at home, failure to win support from UN Security Council and the British Parliament’s rejection of a military strike.
“Shifting the burden to Congress potentially gives the President a way out of the political bind he created last year when he said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons would be a ‘red line’ for the US,” noted The Washington Post.
The Congress remains sharply divided on the issue, not necessarily on party lines. Even so, it is believed that while the Senate will go along with the president, a vote in the Republican-controlled House cannot be taken for granted.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner welcomed the President’s move in seeking authorisation “in response to serious, substantive questions being raised”.
With Congress set to reconvene only on September 9 after a month-long recess, Boehner felt the President has the time to make his case to Congress and the American people.
Senior Republican Senators John McCain and lindsey Graham, long-time votaries of strong action against the Assad regime, voiced disappointment that Obama is contemplating only a limited, narrow military action whereas Assad ought to be removed from power in order to bring an end to the protracted civil war in that country.
In his statement, Obama termed the alleged Syrian chemical attack on August 21 that killed more than 1,000 people “an assault on human dignity” that also posed “a serious danger to our national security” even as it risked making a mockery of the global prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.