In Turning To Congress On Syria, Obama Overrules Top Advisers

[Purveyor]

John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, Susan Rice and Samantha Power all agreed on the need to punish Assad militarily, but the US president looked elsewhere for counsel

WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Barack Obama’s new foreign policy advisers, the first test of their willingness to undertake military action wound up being a stark lesson in the president’s ability to overrule them all.

Obama’s abrupt decision to seek congressional approval before striking Syria also overshadowed what had been a surprising level of consensus among the second-term team members about how to respond to a deadly chemical weapons attack against civilians in Syria.

People close to the deliberations say Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, national security adviser Susan Rice and UN Ambassador Samantha Power largely agreed about the need to use force to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad. While there were some differing views about the speed and the scope of an attack, there were no splintered factions the way there had been during first-term debates over taking action in Libya or launching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The advisers, two of whom are former senators, were also willing to proceed without congressional authorization. But on Friday night, after a week spent speeding toward military action, the president made a stunning turnabout and decided he wanted approval from lawmakers before carrying out an attack.

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http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-turning-to-congress-on-syria-obama-overruled-top-advisers/

[moondust]

1. Good move IMO.

When there are no good options: share the responsibility, the credit, and the blame.

[Jamastiene]

2. Oh wow, a president who follows the Constitution.

I heard this blew Lieberman's mind too. He apparently said he had never heard of a president asking Congress about such things. Yes, Joe, it's in the Constitution. Duh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Clause

I, for one, am glad President Obama is taking this step. I don't necessarily agree with a protracted, long term war in Syria, but the fact that he is not going off half cocked and doing whatever the fuck he wants to do like a certain tyrant we just finally got rid of, is a good step. Then again, I digress. That tyrant did get almost full Congressional approval for Iraq, thanks to a bunch of Democrats who rolled over and went along with anything * wanted to do.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Since 2007 and before, Obama showed 2 foreign policy tendencies

1) Absolute attention to weapons proliferation issues. It's remarkable to me that people are screaming for Obama's Peace Prize to be revoked. To be honest, I didn't think he deserved it, but he did receive it for his work on nuclear weapon proliferation issues. If anything was going to get Obama on the red phone, it would be use of banned weapons. Why anyone is surprised by that remains a mystery to me. Obama has been "I will go buck on proliferation" since day 1. If you didn't know that, you're just ignorant.

2) Interest in involving Congress in military decisions - Again, I don't know why people would be surprised. Obama believes that the People should be involved in military decisions through their representatives. Since Day 1.

[VanillaRhapsody]

4. +1000

brilliant assessment! Simply brilliant