Published time: September 04, 2013 16:59
Any use of the United States military against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad may now come later than previously expected. Some US lawmakers who support a strike on Syria are taken aback by the wording of a new draft that would authorize military force.
Among those who are now concerned with moving forward is Senator
John McCain (R-Arizona), the long-time lawmaker who has
passionately pleaded with the White House to aid rebel fighters
opposed to the Syrian government since long before US President
Barack Obama asked Congress to approve a military strike.
Sen. McCain, 77, has been among the most adamant anti-Assad
crusaders in Washington for years, and in recent days he has
advocated strongly for moving forward with Obama’s plans to
reprimand the Syrian leader over his alleged use of chemical
weapons last month outside of Damascus. McCain is – for the
moment – resisting any plan to punish Assad immediately, however,
after colleagues in the Senate drafted a new bill this week which
alters the terms with which the US would conduct an operation
overseas.
The new draft, written by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) and
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) and unveiled on Tuesday, would
mandate that any military action taken against Assad would limit
US involvement to 90 days and forbid any American boots on the
ground. Additionally, the Obama administration would have to
submit a strategy for “achieving a political settlement”
in Syria.
Asked by the Associated Press if he approved of the draft, McCain
said Wednesday, “In its current form, I do not.”
According to Fox News, the former Republican Party nominee for
president told reporters after Tuesday’s hearing that “There
are a number of people who are unhappy” with Sens. Menendez
and Corker’s offering.
“There’s no reference to changing the momentum on the
battlefield, there’s no reference to arming the Free Syrian
Army,” McCain told NBC News.
McCain has made multiple trips to the Middle East to meet with opposition
fighters attempting to remove Assad’s regime from control, and
has long advocated for assisting them with US weapons. According
to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Wednesday, however, 70 percent of
the Americans surveyed said they opposed any effort by the US or
its allies to supply those rebels with any arsenal.
Should McCain’s sentiment about the new resolution spread among
colleagues, a vote to authorize the use of military force against
Assad could be delayed, if not denied. Reuters reported that the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee may now delay a vote expected
for Wednesday in order to bring back onboard the lawmakers who,
like McCain, oppose the wording of the Menendez-Corker
resolution. Additionally, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) warned
Fox that the resolution will likely lead to a delay in moving
forward, but by Wednesday afternoon Reuters was reporting that a
vote by the committee was likely to occur before Thursday,
McCain’s latest take on the Syrian solution comes just days after
he said that voting against Pres. Obama’s resolution “would be
catastrophic because it would undermine the credibility of the
United States and of the president.”
The news also comes at a time when the crosshairs from
Republicans and Democrats are set on McCain after his conduct
during Tuesday’s Senate hearing on a possible strike raised
eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. During the three-hour-plus
hearing, Sen. McCain was caught on camera playing a game of poker
on his iPhone.
“Well, as much as I like to always listen in rapt attention
constantly with remarks of my colleagues over a three-and-a-half
hour period, occasionally I get a little bored,” McCain told
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer shortly after.
Republished from: RT