WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama won critical support from House Speaker John Boehner for a punitive strike against Syria on Tuesday and dispatched senior Cabinet officials to persuade Congress that Bashar Assad’s government must be punished for a suspected chemical weapons attack the administration blames for more than 1,000 dead.
The leader of House Republicans, Boehner emerged from a meeting at the White House and said the United States has “enemies around the world that need to understand that we’re not going to tolerate this type of behavior. We also have allies around the world and allies in the region who also need to know that America will be there and stand up when it’s necessary.”
Boehner spoke as lawmakers in both parties were at work on the president’s requested legislation, rewriting it to restrict the type and duration of military action that would be authorized, possibly including a ban on U.S. combat forces on the ground.
Obama said he was open to revisions in the relatively broad request the White House made over the weekend. He expressed confidence Congress would respond to his call for support in a military action against Assad, whose government the president said used chemical weapons indiscriminately and “killed thousands of people, including over 400 children.”
The exact toll put forth by the administration is 1,429 dead. Casualty estimates by other groups from the attack on Aug. 21 in a Damascus suburb are far lower, and Assad’s government blames the episode on rebels who have been seeking to overthrow his government in a civil war that began over two years ago. A United Nations inspection team is awaiting lab results on tissue and soil samples it collected while in the country before completing a closely watched report.
The president met top lawmakers at the White House before embarking on an overseas trip to Sweden and Russia, leaving the principal lobbying at home for the next few days to Vice President Joe Biden and other members of his administration.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry as well as Gen. John Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were on the witness list for a hastily called Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Tuesday afternoon. The session shaped up as the first of several Congress is expected to hold in the run-up to a vote as early as next week on Obama’s request for congressional backing for a strike against Syria.
At the United Nations, meanwhile, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that any punitive action against Syria could unleash more turmoil and bloodshed, and he cautioned that such strikes would be legal only in self-defense under the U.N. Charter or if approved by the organization’s Security Council. Russia and China have repeatedly used their veto power in the council to block action against Assad.
In the Middle East, Israel and the U.S. conducted a joint missile test over the Mediterranean in a display of military in the region.
Obama set the fast-paced events in motion on Saturday, when he unexpectedly stepped back from ordering a military strike under his own authority and announced he would seek congressional approval.
Recent presidents have all claimed the authority to undertake limited military action without congressional backing. Some have followed up with such action.
Obama said he, too, believes he has that authority, and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said during the day that even Congress’ refusal to authorize the president wouldn’t negate the power of the commander in chief.