President Barack Obama is giving Syria plenty of time to get ready.
Obama said Saturday that he has decided the U.S. should go ahead with punishing Syrian President Bashar Assad for his deadly Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack, but first he wants the blessing of Congress — a process that could easily push any strike on Syria into the middle of next month.
Lawmakers won’t return to Washington until Sept. 9, and there’s no guarantee they would act quickly on an authorization of military force. Even if they do vote, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t pass.
(Also on POLITICO: Hill leaders weigh tough Syria vote)
And even though Obama said he believes he can act on his own authority to strike Syria without Congress, if he waits until the House and Senate debate and vote, that could give Assad weeks to reposition missile launchers, get his military brass under cover, prepare his contingency plans and generally hunker down before any American military action.
Boosters of a potential strike in Syria were already criticizing Obama for moving too slowly even before the president’s surprise request of Congress on Saturday.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) complained this week that Assad was getting so much information about a potential strike and had so much advance warning that he might as well declare a “snow day” in Damascus and keep everyone home.
(Also on POLITICO: Where politicians stand on Syria)
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) also faulted Obama on Saturday for taking so long to decide how to handle the Syrian crisis.
“After weeks of claiming he could and would make this decision on his own, the president’s announcement today marks an astonishing change of course,” Blunt said. “While congressional approval is the best course of action and the right thing to do, it would have been the right course of action months ago.”
Meanwhile, according to press reports from Syria, Assad’s regime has already begun preparations for air strikes, including moving some military equipment, but it’s been difficult for Western journalists to get a clear picture about what happens on the ground there. According to one account from Damascus, the regime’s advance work has not extended to most ordinary people in the city, who are said to be stockpiling food and water in fear of potential American action.
Skeptics on Twitter joked darkly on Saturday about the additional time that may elapse before Obama actually gives the order, and the anticlimax that could be the result given how much the White House has tried to reduce expectations for its “limited,” “tailored” strike.
“Operation Slow Motion Pinprick looks likely to have the longest preparatory phase of any limited US military operation in history,” wrote Barry Pavel, a former national security official in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. “Obama’s decision is a gift to Assad, who will use the two weeks to move civilians to Syria military sites and military units to civilian neighborhoods.”
That kind of movement means American planners tasked with drawing up the attack must likely scrap whatever plans they had on hand and prepare to keep a close eye on Assad’s force so they’ll be ready if or when the order comes.
Obama said Saturday that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey had assured him the military would be ready to attack whenever he was ready.
“Our military has positioned assets in the region,” Obama said. “The chairman of the Joint Chiefs has informed me that we are prepared to strike whenever we choose. Moreover, the chairman has indicated to me that our capacity to execute this mission is not time-sensitive; it will be effective tomorrow, or next week, or one month from now. And I’m prepared to give that order.”
The U.S. planned to keep its warships stationed in the eastern Mediterranean in place after Obama’s announcement, a defense official said, though depending on how long it takes before a strike, some of the ships may rotate home and others could take their places.
Deployed to the Mediterranean today are the destroyers USS Stout, USS Gravely, USS Mahan, USS Barry and USS Ramage, each carrying dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles. Also available is the amphibious transport USS San Antonio, which is carrying about 700 troops from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, along with some of their aircraft and amphibious equipment.
A few of the ships the Navy has kept in the area have been at sea for several months — the San Antonio deployed from Norfolk, Va., in March — but commanders have held them in place in case of an order from Washington to attack after Syria’s Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack.
Defense officials did not — and do not ever — address the movements of U.S. Navy submarines, which also may be lurking in the waters off Syria and could be called upon to launch missiles.
Obama"s slow-strike military operation
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