Confirmed: Obama Will Seek Congressional Approval for Military Action in Syria
In response to the deadly chemical attack that took the lives of almost 1,500 people in Syria this week, President Obama announced on Saturday that he will seek congressional approval to take limited military action against the country.
Speaking from the White House, Obama characterized the attack by Syria's Assad regime as an "assault on human dignity."
"This would not be an open-ended intervention," the president explained. "We would not put boots on the ground. Instead, our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope. But I'm confident we can hold the Assad regime accountable for their use of chemical weapons, deter this kind of behavior, and degrade their capacity to carry it out."
The announcement comes on the heels of this week's international debate about the Syrian crisis among countries such as the Britain and France. On Thursday, Britain's Parliament voted against military intervention in Syria, while France vowed to support U.S. military action in the region.
Syria has been in the throes of a violent civil war for the past two years as Bashar al-Assad's regime has waged battle against opposition forces.
Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this week stated that U.S. intelligence confirms that Assad has the largest chemical weapons program in the region, and geo-tracking shows that the rockets launched into a Damascus suburb on Thursday came from a known Assad stronghold. Among the 1,429 people killed in that attack, 426 were children.
President Obama's announcement is expected to set off heated protests within the United States, a country that's long been war-weary from its extended military action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nonetheless, Obama stated he's already spoken to four congressional members, who've agreed to schedule a debate and then vote on the matter when Congress comes back into session, Monday, September 9.
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Original article from TakePart
