Obama Believes Congress Will Back Syria Strik

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President Barack Obama said he believes that Congress ultimately will support punishing the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for allegedly using chemical weapons against civilians, in comments he made at the start of a meeting with lawmakers to discuss military action against the country.
Mr. Obama also outlined why he believes it is in America's national security interest to attack Syria. He said military strikes would "degrade" the Assad regime's ability to use chemical weapons and would send a clear message to other countries that are seeking to build weapons of mass destruction.
"I want to emphasize once again:
what we are envisioning is something limited, it's something proportional, it will degrade Assad's capabilities at the same time we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition and allow Syria ultimately to free itself from the kinds of terrible civil wars and death and activity that we've been seeing," the president said.
While Mr. Obama didn't mention Iran by name, most observers say attacking Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons would send a warning to countries such as Iran, which the U.S. says is seeking to build nuclear weapons.
Mr. Obama said he wanted a prompt vote in Congress once lawmakers returned from recess next week. He said the U.S. has high confidence the Assad regime used chemical weapons.
The president added that he wanted to emphasize to the American people that the military action would be limited. "This is not Iraq, this is not Afghanistan. This is a limited, proportional step," Mr. Obama said.
Other people in the meeting, held in the White House cabinet Room, included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) and White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
Mr. Obama's strategy appears to be bearing fruit. He appeared to gain support Monday in a meeting with two key Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who could be critical to building a political coalition for action on Capitol Hill.
Before Monday's meeting, both men had said the administration's call for limited strikes was inadequate, and said they couldn't support isolated military strikes without a broader plan to change the dynamic of the civil war.
They emerged from the discussion saying Mr. Obama was considering such options, a potentially significant shift in White House thinking.
"A vote against that resolution by Congress, I think, would be catastrophic, because it would undermine the credibility of the United States of America and the president of the United States," Mr. McCain said.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with members of Congress in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Tuesday.

"Congress as a whole is taking this issue with the soberness and the seriousness it deserves," Mr. Obama said while flanked by House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). Asked if he is confident Congress will support authorizing strikes against Syria, Mr. Obama said, "I am."
The president's meeting came as part of an administration-wide push to get Congress to support military strikes against Syria. Later Tuesday, members of the president's cabinet, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, as well as Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are set to take questions about the administration's strategy before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing is set for 2:30 p.m.
The president's choice to seek congressional approval is fraught with risk because there is no guarantee lawmakers will support military strikes.