The big wigs in Congress met with president Obama at the White House to hear his pitch on tossing a grenade at Syria. It won't be much more than that as the president has said it will be a limited strike just to make a point. Actually it's more political points.
There is opposition from both Republicans and Democrats on taking action against Syria for using chemical weapons on it's own people. The president insists he has concrete prove the Syrian government used gas. House Speaker John Boehner came away from the meeting apparently saying he supports the president on going ahead with a strike. Foxnews.com quoted Boehner as saying, "The use of chemical weapons is a barbarous act. It's pretty clear to me that the United Nations is unable to take action, NATO not likely to take action. The United States for our entire history has stood up for democracy and freedom for people around the world," Boehner said. "I'm going to support the president's call for action."
Now Boehner has to go back to the rest of his colleagues in the House and convince them. A tough sell to be sure. Nancy Pelosi, leader in the House on the Democrat side, said she feels Syrian President Bashar Assad has "crossed a line.
Meanwhile, syndicated columnist, Charles Krauthammer, thinks Obama is off course. Read More: Obama's Plan Is No-Plan
Funny about these sort of things. Flashback to when President George W. Bush went before Congress with a full-blown report that Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The report, which all of Congress read, lead to approval to go into Iraq. When the weapons weren't found, the cry was "Bush Lied," despite the report and Congressional approval to go forward. It remains to be seen how Obama will be viewed should things go wrong with an attack on Syria. After all, lobbing that grenade into a Syrian landfill will have other repercussions. Iran and Syria will undoubtedly start firing missiles at Israel. Israel will undoubtedly respond. Egypt, in turmoil, despite a treaty with Israel may tear that treaty up, and here we go. The United States, despite Obama not being fond of Israel, will have to jump in full bore and defend the Israelis.
Something else here. Remember the 'Obama authored' sequester? The automatic cutting of funds for certain programs that kicked in because Congress and the White House couldn't reach a deal on expenditures? Cuts included the Defense Department in the sequester. Funny...Obama can find the money to bomb Syria, but the White House remains closed to tours..including school field trips. Go figure.
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