Obama’s Strategy to Urge Congress About Syria Centers on Iran, Israel
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s strategy for winning congressional support for military strikes on Syria relies on two of lawmakers’ most powerful impulses: to challenge Iran and to protect Israel.
Although Congress is deeply divided on the wisdom of Obama’s planned cruise missile campaign, members are generally united in not wanting to send a signal to Iran that the United States won’t stop it from building a nuclear bomb. And they understand that Israel, while silent on the issue of the strikes, is looking to Washington to help shield it from regional spillover from the Syrian civil war.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry played the Iran and Israel cards in his round of TV talk show appearances Sunday.
DOCUMENT: U.S. chemical weapons intel
“Iran will read importantly what we decide to do with regard to the [chemical weapons] convention,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Likewise, Israel: Israel is at risk.”
He compared Syrian President Bashar Assad to Hitler,(Godwin +1) and said on Fox News that he couldn’t believe Congress “would turn its back on all that responsibility, and the fact that we would have granted impunity to a ruthless dictator who continues to gas his people.”
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