“I think there’s a historic event going on here and if this vote is won, that is defeat [of] the request to have more military approach to Syria, I think it will be historic because it would be a grand coalition of the Libertarian Republicans and the Democratic Progressives,” Paul said Thursday on NBC.
Washington has accused the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching a chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, killing hundreds of people. The Syrian government has strongly rejected the allegation.
Paul, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate who is known for his fierce opposition to US military involvements abroad, said last week that the reported chemical attack was a “false flag” likely carried out by the US-backed militant groups.
President Obama, who has previously described the use of chemical weapons as a “red line,” said last Saturday that the United States should attack Syria. Obama, however, said he would seek congressional authorization before ordering military strikes on Syrian targets.
Recent reports have indicated that members of the US House of Representatives will probably turn down a resolution authorizing military action in Syria. But the Senate is expected to rubberstamp Obama’s request.
By a 10-7 vote Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a resolution that authorizes a limited military action in Syria.
Regardless of how Congress votes, senior administration officials have said that the president has teh right to go with his decision to wage a military attack on Syria.
“The president’s decision to take military action in Syria still stands, and will indeed be carried out, regardless of whether Congress votes next week to approve the use of such force,” a senior State Department official has told Fox News on condition of anonymity.
Secretary of State John Kerry has also asserted that Obama has the right to strike Syria if Congress rejected his call for action.
“We don’t contemplate that the Congress is going to vote no,” said Kerry, adding that the president has the right to order attacks “no matter what Congress does.”
SHI/SHI