Rand Paul: 50/50 chance House will vote down strike on Syria

Paul Lawrance
Activist Post

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday where he explained the chances of a vote passing Congress to authorize a strike on Syria in response to alleged chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.

“I think it’s at least 50/50 whether the House will vote down involvement in the Syrian war,” Sen. Rand Paul told NBC’s David Gregory.

I think the Senate will rubber stamp what he (President Obama) wants but I think the House will be much closer vote, and there are a lot of question we have to ask. I think its pretty apparent there was a chemical attack but we now have to ask are we going to go after chemical weapons with our bombing.

Senator Paul added his beliefs that the war could escalate out of control as US bombing could up the death toll and cause more refugees to flee Syria into neighboring countries like Jordan.

The skeptical Senator also put into question which side of the two-year civil war would prove to be American-friendly.

Who is on America’s side over there, if the rebels win will they be American allies? Assad’s definitely not a American ally but I’m not convinced anyone on the Islamic side is the Islamic rebels will be American allies.

He went on to say,

I think the line in the sand should be that America gets involved when American interests are threatened, I don’t see American interests involved in either side of this Syria war. I see Assad who has protected Christians for a number of decades, and then I see the Islamic rebels on the other side who have been attacking Christians, I see al-Qaeda on one side, the side we would go into support, and I see it to be murky. I don’t see a clear cut American interest.

Saturday, president Obama stated in a Rose Garden speech that he would seek approval from lawmakers before any force would be used against Assad’s Syrian regime.

“I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people’s representatives in Congress,” stated the president. “For the last several days, we’ve heard from members of Congress who want their voices to be heard. I absolutely agree. So this morning I spoke with all four congressional leaders, and they’ve agreed to schedule a debate and then a vote as soon as Congress comes back into session. In the coming days, my administration stands ready to provide every member with the information they need to understand what happened in Syria and why it has such profound implications for America’s national security. And all of us should be accountable as we move forward, and that can only be accomplished with a vote.”

Lawmakers return from recess on September 9.

The UK House of Commons voted against military action in Syria last Thursday, effectively leaving the United States with a lack of international support for an imminent strike.

Not only does international support lack, but domestic as well. A Reuters/IPSOS poll taken from taken Aug.19-23 shows that only 9% of Americans polled think the Obama Administration should intervene militarily in Syria.

Paul Lawrance writes for Eyes Open Report where this first appeared.