UPCOMING EVENTS
A look ahead at events in the political debate on whether to launch a U.S. strike against the Syrian government, which the Obama administration says has used chemical weapons:
Today
President Barack Obama is scheduled to be interviewed by a half-dozen broadcast and cable networks. Congress resumes work after its summer break, and a classified briefing for House members is set. Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, plans to discuss Syria in a speech at the New America Foundation and meet with the Congressional Black Caucus.
Tuesday
Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, will meet with the House Democratic Caucus, whose support could be crucial as the president faces opposition within the Republican majority. Obama is scheduled to make a national TV address at 9 p.m. EST from the White House.
Wednesday
Likely first showdown vote in the Senate over a resolution that would authorize “limited and specified use” of U.S. armed forces against Syria for no more than 90 days and bar ground troops from combat. A final vote is expected at week’s end. The administration is expected to hold a classified briefing for senators.
Week of Sept. 16
A House vote appears likely.
— Associated Press
The White House asserted Sunday that a “common-sense test” dictates the Syrian government is responsible for a chemical weapons attack that President Barack Obama says demands a U.S. military response. But Obama’s top aide says the administration lacks “irrefutable, beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence” that skeptical Americans, including lawmakers who will start voting on military action this week, are seeking.
“This is not a court of law. And intelligence does not work that way,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said during his five-network public relations blitz Sunday to build support for limited strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“The common-sense test says he is responsible for this. He should be held to account,” McDonough said of the Syrian leader who for two years has resisted calls from inside and outside his country to step down.
Asked in another interview about doubt, McDonough was direct: “No question in my mind.”
The U.S., citing intelligence reports, says the lethal nerve agent sarin was used in an Aug. 21 attack outside Damascus, and that 1,429 people died, including 426 children.
The number is higher than that, said Khalid Saleh, head of the press office at the anti-Assad Syrian Coalition who was in Washington to lobby lawmakers to authorize the strikes. Some of those involved in the attacks later died in their homes, and opposition leaders were weighing releasing a full list of names of the dead.
But Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collects information from a network of anti-government activists, says it has so far been able to confirm only 502 dead.
In an interview Sunday, Assad told journalist Charlie Rose there is not conclusive evidence about who is to blame for the chemical weapons attacks and again suggested the rebels were responsible. From Beirut, Rose described his interview, which is to be released today on the CBS morning program that Rose hosts, with the full interview airing later in the day on Rose’s PBS program.
Asked about Assad’s claims there is no evidence he used the weapons, Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in London: “The evidence speaks for itself.”
Obama faces a tough audience on Capitol Hill.
“Lobbing a few Tomahawk missiles will not restore our credibility overseas,” said Rep. Mike McCaul, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
Added Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif.: “For the president to say that this is just a very quick thing and we’re out of there, that’s how long wars start.”
Almost half of the 433-member House and a third of the 100-member Senate remain undecided, according to a recent survey.
“Just because Assad is a murderous tyrant doesn’t mean his opponents are any better,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
On Saturday, a U.S. official released a DVD compilation of videos showing attack victims. The official said the videos were shown to senators during Thursday’s classified briefing. The graphic images have become a rallying point for the administration.
But McDonough conceded the United States doesn’t have concrete evidence Assad was behind the chemical attacks.
Recent opinion surveys show intense American skepticism about military intervention in Syria, even among those who believe Syria’s government used chemical weapons on its people.
Congress, perhaps, is even more dubious.
“It’s an uphill slog,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who supports strikes on Assad.
“I think it’s very clear he’s lost support in the last week,” Rogers added, speaking of the president.
Still, Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, has predicted authorization and McDonough on Sunday telegraphed optimism.
“They (members of Congress) do not dispute the intelligence when we speak with them,” McDonough said.
But while the public discussion lacks a direct link between Assad and weapons, the private briefs are no better, two lawmakers said.
“The evidence is not as strong as the public statements that the president and the administration have been making,” said Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich. “There are some things that are being embellished in the public statements. … The briefings have actually made me more skeptical about the situation.”
Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said, “They have evidence showing the regime has probably the responsibility for the attacks.”
But that’s not enough to start military strikes. “They haven’t linked it directly to Assad, in my estimation,” said McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
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