President Obama will ramp up the pressure Monday to persuade Congress into backing a US military strike on Syr🌠ia — and faces an embarrassing defeat as he scrambles to win suppor♔t from skeptical lawmakers and a war-weary public.
The president’s struggle became clear this weekend whe🐓n Democrat🅰ic Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas said he was opposed.
“Before🧔 any military action in Syria𒆙 is taken, the administration must prove a compelling national security interest,” said Pryor, who faces a tough 2014 re-election bid.
He is the fifth Senate Democrat to come out against the🏅 Obama administration’s plan.
On Monday, the president will tape i🍌nterviews with three network-news anchors, as well as with PBS, CNN🌳 and FOX.
A Senate vote to authorize “limited and specified use” of for𒅌ce without any ground troops is expected Wednes☂day. The House likely won’t vote until next week.
The latest head count by The Hill shows 24 Senators voting in favor or leaning in favor of the resolution; 19 are against it or likely to vote against it; and 27 are undecided🥀.
In the Ho♋use, 31 representatives are reportedly favoring a strike; 138 members are against it or leaning that way; and 92 are undecided.
“Right now, I think it’s going to be difficult to pass the 🌸House,” Long Island Rep. Peter King told The Post.
The Republican lawmaker, who sits on the House Permanent Selec🍌t Intelligence and Homeland Security committees, said he plans to vote for US action.
Demonstrators staged an🔯ti-war protests in Manhattan and in front of the White House on Saturday, as Pope Francis led a mass peace vigil in St. Peter’s square.
President Obama left during the Washington demonstration to play golf at Andrews Air Fo▨rce Base. Be💞fore he left, he acknowledged that “the American people are weary after a decade of war.
“But we are the United States of America,” the president said in a radio address. “We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we’ve seen ou𝓰t of Sꦏyria.”
Syria’s civil war came to a head on Aug. 21 when President Bashar al-Assad’s forces killed more than 1,400 people — including 426🔴 children — in what the US claims was a chemical-weapons attack. A Syrian opposition leader said a small number of victims were secretly flown to Great Britain and tested positive for sarin, a deadly gas.
The violence con♏tinued Saturday when 16 people were killed in heavy government shelling of rebel positions near Damascus.
Senate Majority Leader ꧋Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are backing Obama — with Pelosi sending her fifth letter to colleagues Saturday to muster support.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice is expected to give a speech on Monday at theꦡ New America Foundation, while President Obama plans to give a prime-time speech Tuesday to push his plan.
Har💫lem Democratic Re��p. Charles Rangel has come out in opposition to US intervention — saying Bashar’s actions do not threaten the country’s security.
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Michael Grimm, who represenꦫts Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, flip-flopped and now says 🦋he’s opposed to military action.