Rep. Adam Smith skeptical about US strike in Syria
Sep 4, 2013, 8:16 AM | Updated: 8:34 am
Syrian refugees arrive at the Turkish Cilvegozu gate border, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West against taking one-sided action in Syria but also said Russia "doesn't exclude" supporting a U.N. resolution on punitive military strikes if it is proved that Damascus used poison gas on its own people. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Congress is waiting for the White House to make a case for a military strike against Syria.
Among the skeptics is Representative Adam Smith, D-Wash. He conceded that Syria’s use of chemical weapons against its own people is “awful,” a “crime against humanity.”
“It’s not a question of how awful it is, the question is whether or not we are in a position to do anything to stop it and whether or not lobbing missiles in and committing more acts of violence is actually going to improve the situation,” Smith told KIRO Radio.
Speaking to reporters in Sweden Wednesday, President Barack Obama appealed for support in Congress and around the world for military intervention in Syria.
Smith agreed the U.S. must not go it alone. “It is an international responsibility to try to figure out some way to solve it and putting all of that pressure on us, for us to stand up and say we will not let this stand, kind of implies that we’re in a position to not let it stand,” reasoned Smith. “In the face of an atrocity like this, you want to do something, but wanting to do something isn’t the same thing as being able to actually affect change and that’s the case I’m waiting to be made.”
A resolution crafted by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee puts a 90-day limit on action and says no American troops can be sent into Syria.
President Obama acknowledged that a military response will not resolve the civil war in Syria but is needed to send a clear message of disapproval.
