Congress looks increasingly unlikely to take a tough vote on an unpopular authorization of the use of military force in Syria anytime soon.
The preliminary agreement between the United States and Russia on turning over Syria’s chemical weapons by mid-2014 sets a November timetable for international inspectors to enter the embattled Middle Eastern country, allowing Capitol Hill to more immediately confront looming fiscal issues like government funding and raising the debt ceiling rather than take the plunge on Syria, which members of both parties were reluctant to support.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) temporarily pulled a limited, 90-day strike on Syria on Wednesday from the floor of the Senate. A GOP aide said Saturday that any renewed effort in the upper chamber would likely necessitate another direct ask from President Barack Obama, who told Reid to temporarily shelve the measure when he visited the Capitol on Tuesday.
(Also on POLITICO: Pols react to U.S.-Russia deal)
In the immediate aftermath of the tentative deal, senators indicated an overall wariness dealing with Russia while the hawkish Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blasted the agreement as “meaningless” and argued for more help for the Syrian opposition.
“Assad will use the months and months afforded to him to delay and deceive the world using every trick in Saddam Hussein’s playbook. It requires a willful suspension of disbelief to see this agreement as anything other than the start of a diplomatic blind alley, and the Obama Administration is being led into it by Bashar Assad and Vladimir Putin,” the senators said in a joint statement.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) panned the agreement for being “unclear” on how to hold Syrian President Bashar Assad accountable without a continue threat of military force, which Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said needs to remain on the table. Obama said on Saturday that “if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act.”
(Also on POLITICO: Obama to Assad: Keep your promises)
“Just as the credible threat of a strike against Syria’s chemical capability made this framework agreement possible, we must maintain that credible threat to ensure that Assad fully complies with the agreement,” Levin said.
One strategy that no senator called for on Saturday: For Congress to again be tasked with a vote on military force in Syria, as it had been preparing to do much of the past two weeks.
Tough Hill vote on Syria fades
No comments:
Post a Comment