| ABC News | - |
Little of the impassioned debate that fractured lawmakers last year over possible military intervention in Syria is happening now as American war planes strike extremist targets in Iraq.
Iraq Isn't Syria: Congress on Board This Time
Little of the impassioned debate that fractured lawmakers last year over
possible military intervention in Syria is happening now as American
war planes strike extremist targets in Iraq.
Almost a week into the Obama administration's emergency action in
northern Iraq, the campaign is attracting surprisingly broad bipartisan
support. Republicans have issued several I-told-you-so statements and
called for stronger action, and dovish Democrats say they're concerned
about slipping into a new war. But outright opposition has been muted.
"The need to move quickly to prevent further loss of life of men, women
and children is not in dispute," said Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Va.,
expressing the view on Iraq of many in both parties. A year earlier,
Rigell wrote a letter to President Barack Obama demanding that the White
House seek congressional approval before ordering an attack on Syria,
collecting the signature of more than 100 of his fellow House members.
Obama's goals are more defined this time.
Last summer he wanted to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad's
government for using chemical weapons, hoping to deter repeat attacks
and, at the prodding of Senate hawks, reverse the country's civil war.
With weak support at home and abroad, Obama requested authorization from
Congress.
Lawmakers returned early from a recess full of town hall meetings where
they heard little support for action. Facing defeat in the House and
Senate, the administration ultimately opted for Russian-supported
mediation and Assad relinquishing his chemical arsenal.
Several elements worked against Obama back then. Americans felt little
responsibility for Syria, a country the United States has shunned for
decades. Even without committing ground troops, U.S. airstrikes would
have meant taking on a Syrian military with formidable air defense
capabilities. The effort also could have helped anti-Assad groups with
questionable motives, including the Sunni militants who've since named
themselves the Islamic State and invaded Iraq, prompting that country's
civil war.
Iraq's crisis is in some ways more urgent, though still far less deadly
than the three-year fight in neighboring Syria that has killed 170,000
people.
Obama says he's acting to protect thousands of American personnel in
Iraq and avert a possible genocide of minority groups. In a place where
the U.S. spent hundreds of billions of dollars and lost almost 4,500
lives trying to secure, the fact that hundreds of thousands of
Christians are at risk reinforces an American sense of responsibility.
Unlike with Syria, the U.S. is working with the government in Iraq and
fighting a group already on a U.S. terrorism blacklist. It is providing
military assistance to the central government in Baghdad and to the
largely autonomous Kurdish authorities in the north, a bastion of
pro-American sentiment in a region full of Sunni extremist and Iranian
influence.
Perhaps more confident of backing at home, Obama sidestepped asking for
Congress' permission this time. So far, he appears justified.
"The president's authorization of airstrikes is appropriate," House
Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said last week. Boehner, however, also
blamed Obama for lacking a comprehensive strategy, which he said "only
emboldens the enemy and squanders the sacrifices Americans have made."
Many Republicans issued similar support for the action accompanied by
broader criticism of Obama's Iraq policy. They cite the administration's
inability to secure a U.S. military presence in Iraq after 2012 and its
refusal for several weeks to order military action while officials were
collecting intelligence and prodding Iraq into forming a more inclusive
government. Iraq's new president nominated on Monday a senior Shia
lawmaker to form a new Cabinet, snubbing powerful incumbent Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona called Obama's response thus far
"ineffective." Rep. Ed Royce of California, the House Foreign Affairs
Committee chairman, said Obama's inaction when Royce suggested armed
drone deployment was "tragic." Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida noted his
June call for strikes. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., the House
Armed Services Committee chairman, backed intervention but said the
Sunni extremists' rise was "preventable." Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of
Florida and Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma both called the White House
action "overdue."
Democratic leaders in Congress issued more straightforward support.
But some in Obama's own party expressed reservations.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 ranked Democrat who voted
against President George W. Bush's Iraq war authorization 12 years ago,
said the White House assured him no U.S. boots on the ground were
required. "While this is strictly an air mission, I still have
concerns," he declared, saying American troops couldn't solve Iraq's
underlying problems.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said he shared his constituents'
"weariness about any expansion of U.S. involvement in Iraq" and warned
about "mission creep." Still, he said the threat from the Islamic State
was "real and extends to U.S. interests both in the Middle East and at
home."
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Obama should seek congressional approval for any prolonged military operation.
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., one of two Muslims in Congress and among
its most dovish members, voiced support for limited intervention.
"Nations with the power to act have a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves," Ellison said.
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