President Barack Obama was ready to order a military strike against Syria, with or without Congress’ blessing. But on Friday night, he suddenly changed his mind.
Senior administration officials describing Obama’s about-face Saturday offered a portrait of a president who began to wrestle with his own decision — at first internally, then confiding his views to his chief of staff, and finally summoning his aides for an evening session in the Oval Office to say he’d had a change of heart.
The ensuing flurry of activity culminated Saturday afternoon in the White House Rose Garden when Obama, his vice president at his side, told the American public that while he believed the U.S. should launch a military strike to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical weapons attack, he would first ask permission from Congress.
Early decisiveness
By the time Obama’s National Security Council met a week ago Saturday, a few days after the attack, it was clear the intelligence the U.S. had gathered corroborated the notion that a chemical attack had resulted in dramatic mass casualties, officials said.
As the meeting opened, Obama told his advisers the attack outside Damascus was precisely the type of scenario he had been concerned about last year, when he said Assad’s large-scale use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” for the U.S. and necessitate a response. Obama hadn’t made a final decision, officials said, but he told aides his strong inclination was the U.S. must act.
By the end of the meeting, aides were no longer discussing whether to respond, but how and when.
Making the case
Over the course of the next week, Obama’s aides began making their case publicly, asking allies to support a military action and talking with lawmakers. Secretary of State John Kerry cut short his own vacation and made two speeches to say the U.S. had clear evidence of an attack.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, traveling in Asia, said the U.S. had moved military assets into place. “We are ready to go,” Hagel said as the Navy beefed up its presence in the Persian Gulf region with an additional aircraft carrier.
Encountering obstacles
But away from Washington, the U.S. was running into obstacles in its search for a global coalition to bolster its case that a response was needed to protect at international norm against chemical weapons use.
The U.N. Security Council failed to reach agreement on Wednesday on authorizing the use of force, with Russia objecting to international intervention. Then on Thursday, a vote in Britain’s Parliament to endorse military action failed, all but guaranteeing Britain wouldn’t play a direct role.
In Washington, members of Congress from both parties were insisting Obama consult more closely with Congress before giving an order to begin hostilities. Dozens of lawmakers, most of them Republican, signed a letter saying Obama should not take military action without congressional approval.
Changing his mind
Obama’s national security team was in agreement that while consulting with Congress was critical, there was no need for formal approval, officials said. Seeking a vote in Congress to authorize a strike wasn’t even an option on the table.
All that changed Friday night. As Obama and his his chief of staff, Denis McDonough, walked on the White House grounds for the better part of an hour, the president that he had changed his mind and wanted to ask Congress to approve a strike.
By 7 p.m., top aides had been summoned to the Oval Office, where Obama shared the new plan. It was the right thing to do, the president said, and would make the U.S. stronger.
Pushing back
The next morning, there was pushback from some on the president’s team. The National Security Council convened to firm up the plan, with Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, national security adviser Susan Rice and others in attendance.
When Obama said he wanted to ask Congress for a vote, some of them dissented. Officials wouldn’t say which participants argued against Obama’s proposal.
After a two-hour debate, they agreed to support Obama’s decision, officials said. Obama went upstairs and called the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate to inform them of his about-face. He also notified French President Francois Hollande, who has said France will support a military strike, then emerged in a steamy White House Rose Garden, surprising lawmakers, reporters and the public with news of his plan.
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