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Today was the first bombing of Syria by the United States since Biden came to power. The decision, however, generated an unexpected political reaction.
The decision of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, to carry out a bombing in Syria this Friday provoked an unexpected reaction in the country. Several Democratic leaders, his allies, criticized the measure, while Republican lawmakers supported it.
Democrats agreed to remind the new president that it is Congress that has the authority to authorize attacks, although others went further by criticizing the United States’ war strategy in the world. “I am very concerned that yesterday’s attack in Syria will put our country on the path of continuing the same old war rather than ending it. This is the same path we’ve been on for nearly two decades, ”said Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
For his part, Senator Chris Murphy, who chairs the Foreign Subcommittee for Anti-Terrorism, assured that “retaliatory attacks -such as the one in Syria-, which are not necessary to prevent an imminent threat, must be within the definition of a authorization of existing military force from Congress ”.
“Congress must hold this government to the same standard as previous governments, and demand a clear legal justification for military actions,” he added. Also Senator Tim Kaine stated that “the people of the United States deserve to hear the government’s justification for these attacks and its legal justification for acting without consulting Congress. Offensive military action – he added – without the approval of Congress is not constitutional in the absence of extraordinary circumstances ”.
Can read: Biden orders his first bombardment against Syria, why?
Congressman Ro Khanna, a member of the Lower House Armed Services committee, recalled that the Democrats won the elections with the promise of “ending the wars, not escalating conflicts in the Middle East.” “Our foreign policy must be based on diplomacy and law, not on revenge bombings without authorization from Congress,” he said.
Finally, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, one of the most progressive voices in Congress, affirmed that the presence of the United States in Syria “has done nothing to stop the violence, but has exacerbated the pain and suffering of Syrians.”
Republicans support Biden
If Democrats criticized the attack, it was Republicans who came out in support of the bombing ordered by Biden, while urging him to keep up a heavy hand on Iran.
Its leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, assured that Biden “acted well within the authorities of his position” and warned that “the attacks against facilities and US diplomatic and military personnel are only one of the first tests for the new government.”
Senator Jim Inhofe, the highest ranking Republican on the Upper House Armed Services committee, said “yesterday’s attacks were the correct and proportionate response to protect the lives of Americans.” For his part, the highest-ranking Republican on the Lower House Armed Services committee, Mike Rogers, said that “the United States showed last night that attacks against US personnel and interests will not be tolerated.”
The United States launched several attacks on Syrian territory on Thursday against positions of pro-Iranian militias operating in Syria and Iraq in which at least 22 combatants died, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The bombardment was in response to an attack on the 15th in which a US soldier was wounded and a contractor was killed in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, due to the impact of several Katiusha rockets.
