Kerry Won't Rule Out Action Against Syria if Congress Votes No

Kerry Won't Rule Out Action Against Syria if Congress Votes No

On Meet the Press on Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry explained President Obama’s sudden shift in favor of seeking Congressional approval for military action against the Assad regime in Syria. Obama, said Kerry, figured that the United States would have “greater moral authority and greater strength” with Congressional approval, and would demonstrate to the world that the country was “united.” He continued: “He didn’t think it was worthwhile acting and having the Syrians and a whole bunch of other folks looking at the United States arguing about whether or not it was legitimate or should he have done it or should he have moved faster.”

Kerry then said that Obama didn’t decide to go to Congress because of low levels of support for action against Syria. He dodged the question as to whether Congress would vote yes on authorization to use force: “We don’t contemplate that Congress is going to vote no.” On ABC, he said, “We are not going to lose this vote.”

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