Hillary Weighs in on Syria
Posted: September 3, 2013 Filed under: Syria | Tags: Syria 23 Comments
Obama is taking his call to intervene with Syria to the Congress. Many Congress critters are weighing in. Here’s what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has to say about the situation.
“Secretary Clinton supports the president’s effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regime’s horrific use of chemical weapons,” a Clinton aide told POLITICO.
Speaker John A. Boehner said on Tuesday that he would “support the president’s call to action” in Syria after meeting with President Obama, giving the president a crucial ally in the quest for votes in the House.
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, quickly joined Mr. Boehner to say he also backed Mr. Obama.
“Understanding that there are differing opinions on both sides of the aisle, it is up to President Obama to make the case to Congress and to the American people that this is the right course of action, and I hope he is successful in that endeavor,” Mr. Cantor said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Senate held hearings.
After weathering a barrage of criticism from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Kerry turned the tables and demanded to know whether or not he believed that air strikes would make Assad more or less likely to use chemical weapons again.
“It’s unknown,” Paul replied.
Jabbing his finger, Kerry disagreed, saying it was guaranteed that Assad would use chemical weapons again if the U.S. doesn’t act.
Kerry, a Vietnam veteran, reminded Paul that “you’ve got three of us here who have gone to war” and that they know what it involves.
“The president is not asking you to go to war,” he said, urging Paul to go to a classified briefing “and learn that.”
Concluding his comments, Kerry turned to Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for back-up, asking if he wanted to “weigh in on this.”
“No, not really,” came the reply, prompting laughter from the panel.
The Public remains split and not on party lines. This should be interesting.
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Sky Dancing 
UN: Syrian Refugee Crisis The ‘Humanitarian Calamity’ Of The Century http://colm.es/17qFQPx #p2
I wish Hillary would provide more details on why she things the policy is a good one and what it will accomplish. I’m not really surprised she supports it though, as I said on the previous thread.
Me too …
If the UN was functional, it would be doing it. Use of chemical weapons is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention of 1925, which Syria signed on in 1958. It was restated in 1993.
Yup.
Ditto…………………….Hillary doesn’t make me uptight about Syria, but I tell you the media has got everybody full of “up-tightness”.
Obama really upset the conventional wisdom people, They’re still going in circles. its been somewhat educational to watch.
The UN can’t/won’t and someone almost has to respond to horrible flagrant violations of international law. I don’t like it but that seems to be US again.
Some times I think they just say stuff when they know they can’t do anything or get votes
So do I.
OT– but please read this post by Tommy Christopher if you can. It’s very powerful.
CBS News Should Retract Report Excusing Mother’s Murder of Autistic Child
Washington Post @washingtonpost 1m
“We’ve divided the world into two: countries we can imagine bombing and countries we can’t imagine bombing.” http://wapo.st/1dErjYV
Teju Cole is a ridiculous asshole who is spouting bullshit.
I wish Hilary would discuss her position more in depth as well. Honestly, I’m just muddledI’m as war weary as anyone else, and I wouldn’t approve arming rebels or American boots on the ground. Yet, I can’t help but support some sort of well-planned, contained air action. I say that with reservation. I guess I don’t have anything useful to say just yet.
PBS News Hour reported very low support in Egypt for American involvement while acknowledging Assad used chemical weapons. In contrast the refugees supported Western intervention. The perspective of some of the refugees interviewed was basically “Why isn’t the West intervening? Can’t they see what’s happening here? Don’t they care?” The News Hour doesn’t have my confidence by any means, yet I was sympathetic to the refugee perspective presented. Kat’s link put the refugee question more to the fore. 7 million refugees is unbelievable – that number exceeds the population of Wisconsin and a number of small nations. While I’m loathe to involve the US in another foreign civil war in the Middle East, I’m also torn by chemical weapons as a red line. Doesn’t seem the most humanitarian of red lines to me. I don’t think it’s disputable that Syria crossed that line. That Syria has signed the Geneva Convention is a clincher. One of the commentators on PBS last night stated we shouldn’t get involved because the U.S. has no national security interest in Syria. What??? I don’t know who the commentator was – never heard of him, I think he was from the University of Chicago. I don’t know what’s worse – this kind of crazy-talk denial or NeoCon hawks.
I believe we have a US national interest in not having Syria become a fully failed state. I hope we are of some help to the helpless.
On a humanitarian level, I see the situation as analogous to Bosnia. But Syria is in a more dangerous part of the world, so there is much greater risk if we become involved. So what to do?
After the Nazi Holocaust, when civilized nations pledged “never again”, we need to ask ourselves if we stand behind that promise or was it merely empty words?
I couldn’t agree more,
It was Martin Luther King who said:
There comes a time in our lives when silence is a betrayal.
Hillary is the voice of change.
And…….how is this: Ariel Castro Dead from Apparent Suicide | Mediaite
I don’t think the man suffered enough…he got out easy if you asked me.
good riddance, I suppose. though he probably did get off easy.
I just hope it was slow and painful. I have no sorry for what I say about his death. I disgust that man, nothing “humane” would be worthy of him.