WASHINGTON – Just hours before President Barack Obama was set to address the nation, Sen. Richard Shelby came out of a closed-door briefing on the situation in Syria to announce he would not be supporting the current proposal to use force.
“I will firmly oppose the resolution brought before the Senate calling for the use of American military force in Syria’s civil war,” Shelby said. “I have heard the President’s argument. It is weak and vague, in my judgment.”
According to Shelby, Obama’s presentation doesn’t offer goals nor does it offer the means to achieve goals and the president hasn’t shown how to avoid any unintended consequences.
“President Obama has failed to articulate a clear American interest in this conflict,” Shelby said in a statement. “He has also failed to clearly explain what he intends to achieve and how he intends to achieve it. And he has failed to assure us that an attack would not further destabilize an already unstable part of the world.”
As for whether or not he trusts the bid Russian President Vladimir Putin put on the table regarding Syrian chemical weapons, Alabama’s senior Republican senator expressed his skepticism.
“My first impression is that Vladimir Putin probably decides to involve himself when it benefits Vladimir Putin,” Shelby said. “But it’s mainly all talk right now. We’ll see whether there’s any meaningful, verifiable substance to it. I’m guarded.”
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