Obama gets top Republican support on Syria strike

WASHINGTON — United States President Barack Obama’s call for a military strike in Syria won significant momentum yesterday (Sept 3), with leaders of both parties in Congress saying they are convinced that Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against his own people and that the US should respond.

The top Republican in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, said taking action is something “the United States as a country needs to do”.

Mr Boehner emerged from a meeting at the White House and said the United States has “enemies around the world that need to understand that we’re not going to tolerate this type of behaviour”.

Mr Obama on Saturday unexpectedly stepped back from ordering a military strike under his own authority and announced he would seek congressional approval.

The president urged Congress to hold a prompt vote once it returns from holiday next week. He also tried to assure the public that involvement in Syria will be a “limited, proportional step”.

“This is not Iraq, and this is not Afghanistan,” Mr Obama said.

He met with top lawmakers hours before he leaves on a three-day trip to Europe, with a visit to Sweden and a G-20 summit in Russia

The US says it has proof that the Assad regime is behind sarin gas attacks that Washington claims killed at least 1,429 people, including more than 400 children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collects information from a network of anti-regime activists, says it has so far only been able to confirm 502 dead.

The Obama administration argues that the US must exert global leadership in retaliating for what apparently was the deadliest use of chemical weapons anywhere over the past 25 years.

Mr Boehner’s support is key, but opposition Republicans in Congress do not speak with one voice.

Democrats, too, were divided, although it appeared the administration’s biggest concern was winning support among deeply conservative Republicans who have battled with the president on issue after issue since winning control of the House three years ago.

And after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, polls show most Americans opposed to any new military action overseas.

Some lawmakers say Mr Obama still hasn’t presented good evidence that Assad’s forces were responsible for the Aug 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. AP