Obama: I might Lose Congressional Vote on Syria
President Barack Obama conceded Monday night he might lose his fight for congressional support of a military strike against Syria, and declined to say what he would do if lawmakers reject his call to back retaliation for a chemical weapons attack last month.
The president sought to use a glimmer of a possible diplomatic solution — including vaguely encouraging statements by Russian and Syrian officials on Monday — as fresh reason for Congress to back his plan. Syria welcomed a proposal to turn over all of its chemical weapons to international control.
Obama said Syria's statement was a potentially positive development, but he voiced skepticism about that the regime of President Bashar Assad would follow through. He said it was yet another reason for lawmakers to give him the backing he is seeking.
He spoke in a series of six television network interviews planned as part of a furious lobbying campaign aimed at winning support from dubious lawmakers and well as a war-weary public.
Speaking of Assad's government, Obama said the credible threat of a military strike led by the United States "has given them pause and makes them consider whether or not they could make this move" to surrender control of their chemical weapons stockpile.
"If we don't maintain and move forward with a credible threat of military pressure, I do not think we will actually get the kind of agreement I would like to see," Obama said on CNN.
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cited "international discussions" in unexpectedly postponing a test vote originally set for Wednesday on Obama's call for legislation backing a military strike.
In a separate interview with NBC, Obama took the step — unusual for any politician — of conceding he may lose his campaign in Congress for authorization. "I wouldn't say I'm confident" of the outcome, he said.
"I think it's fair to say that I haven't decided" on a next step if Congress turns its back, the president told NBC.
Classified briefings for lawmakers just back from vacation were also part of the White House's bid to avoid a humiliating defeat in Congress, as were the public release of cringe-inducing videos of men, women and children writhing in agony from the evident effects of chemical gas also.
Obama arranged a trip to Congress on Tuesday as well as a prime time speech from the White House.
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press
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