By Norman
Solomon
Grassroots
pressure has forced President Obama to seek approval from Congress for an
attack on Syria. But Obama is hell-bent on ordering a missile assault on that
country, and he has two very important aces in the hole.
The administration
is about to launch a ferocious propaganda blitz that will engulf a wide range
of U.S. media. And as a fallback, the president is reserving the option of attacking
Syria no matter what Congress does.
Until
Obama’s surprise announcement Saturday that he will formally ask Congress for
authorization of military action against Syria, the impassioned pitches from top
U.S. officials in late August seemed to be closing arguments before cruise
missiles would hit Syrian targets. But the pre-bombing hyper spin has just
gotten started.
The official
appeals for making war on yet another country will be ferocious. Virtually all
the stops will be pulled out; all kinds of media will be targeted; every kind
of convoluted argument will be employed.
Hell hath no
fury like war-makers scorned. Simmering rage will be palpable from political
elites who do not want to see Congress set an unprecedented precedent:
thwarting the will of a president who wants Pentagon firepower unleashed on
another country.
President
Obama and top Democrats such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will twist
every arm they can to get a “yes” vote for attacking Syria. Meanwhile, most
mainline media pundits, numbingly addicted to war, will often chastise and
denigrate foes of authorization.
But we have
a real chance to prevent a U.S. attack. One cogent argument after another, from
intelligence
veterans and policy
analysts and weapons
experts, has debunked the messaging for war on Syria. And some members of
Congress — not nearly enough, but some — have begun to speak up with cogent
opposition.
One of NPR’s
inside-the-box hosts of “All Things Considered” on August 30 asked Rep. Zoe
Lofgren (D-Calif.) about the Obama administration’s claim that missile strikes
on Syria would be “a limited action” and not “war.” Congresswoman Lofgren
replied: “I think that anyone who argues that shooting missiles and dropping
bombs on another country is not an act of war has got some further education
warranted. If somebody shot cruise missiles at Washington for only one day, we
would still consider it an act of war, wouldn’t we?”
Not many
members of Congress have Lofgren’s clarity, and many of their votes on
authorization are up for grabs. Each of us can help affect the outcome by
demanding that our senators and representative oppose the war resolution. We
should make our voices heard in all sorts of public venues.
The
president’s move for a congressional vote should cause a major escalation of anti-war
activism. A straw in the wind: during just a few hours after Obama’s announcement
on Saturday afternoon, nearly 10,000 people took the initiative via
RootsAction.org to email
members of Congress with a “No Attack on Syria” message.
National
opinion polling and momentum inside Congress indicate that we can defeat Obama’s
war resolution. It’ll be a tremendous fight, but we can prevail.
But even if
Obama loses the vote in Congress, there’s a very real danger that he will
proceed with ordering an attack on Syria.
Burying the
lead almost a dozen paragraphs into a September 1 news
story, the New York Times mentioned
in passing: “White House officials indicated that Mr. Obama might still
authorize force even if Congress rejected it.”
A careful reading of Obama’s Rose Garden
announcement on Saturday verifies that he never quite said he will abide by the
decision of Congress if it refuses to approve an attack on Syria. Instead, the
president filled his statement
with hedging phrases, detouring around any such commitment with words like
these:
* “I have decided that the United States
should take military action against Syrian regime targets. … And I'm prepared
to give that order. But … I'm also mindful that I'm the
President of the world's oldest constitutional democracy.”
* “I will seek authorization for the use of
force from the American people's representatives in Congress.”
* “Over 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.”
* “And all of us should be accountable as we
move forward, and that can only be accomplished with a vote.”
* “I’m ready to act in the face of this outrage.
Today I’m asking Congress to send a message to the world that we are ready to
move forward together as one nation.”
At the grassroots, people across the United
States will be working very hard to prevent congressional approval of an attack
on Syria. That activism is imperative. But we should also understand that Obama
has not committed himself to abide by the decision that Congress makes.
__________________________________
Norman Solomon is co-founder of
RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His
books include “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to
Death.” Information on the documentary based on the book is at www.WarMadeEasyTheMovie.org.