Republican senators explain what it will take to win their votes for air strikes against Syria:
“We need to have a strategy and a plan,” [John] McCain said on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” “In our view, the best way to eliminate the threat of Bashar Assad’s continued use of chemical weapons would be the threat of his removal from power. And that, I believe, has to be part of what we tell the American people.”
….Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said Congress should vote against a strike on Syria unless it receives convincing assurance that the U.S. will not be drawn into an all-out military conflict there. “My constituents are war weary,” he said. “They don’t want to see us involved in this.”
Translation: McCain will vote in favor only if there’s a plan in place that pretty much guarantees escalation of U.S. involvement. Chambliss will vote in favor only if there’s a plan in place that pretty much guarantees there won’t be any further escalation.
I can’t wait to see the text of the actual resolution that Congress eventually votes on. I predict maximum weaseliness—which, I admit, will be sort of amusing to watch considering the endless neocon bellowing for the past couple of years about Obama’s wimpiness in the Middle East. Now we’ll get to see if Republicans are willing to put their money where their mouths are.
