Urging the Obama administration to eventually seek congressional authorization for any use of military force in Syria, Senator Bob Corker, R-TN, the ranking Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee, on Monday said he would support a decision by the president to engage in surgical strikes against the Syrian government given the evidence of the Assad regime’s continued use of chemical weapons. However, he cautioned against any further involvement beyond supporting vetted, moderate members of the Syrian opposition.
“I don’t think there’s any question in our administration’s mind that chemical warfare has been used, and so…I hope they come to Congress for an authorization at some point. I think you’re going to see a surgical, proportional strike against the Assad regime for what they have done, and I support that. I do not want us, though, to move into a situation where we’re moving beyond supporting the moderate opposition on the ground. I think Syrians need to be the ones to deal with this issue but certainly with the use of chemical warfare, I think we have to act; and I think we’ll do so again in a very surgical proportional way,” said Senator Corker on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday.
He also discussed the situation in Syria on CBS’ “This Morning” and NBC’s “The Today Show.”