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WASHINGTON — President Obama emplo⛦yed a shame tactic yesterday to try to push a reluctant Congress into authorizing missile strikes against Syria — circulating a gruesome video of victims of a sarin-gas attack near Damascus writhing on the floor and foaming at the mouth.
An Obama administration official also provided news org💟anizations with a horrifying montage of 13 videos showing convulsing men and c🔯hildren sprawled across a tile floor after the Aug. 21 chemical-weapon attack.
In one clip, a small boy’s limbs are twitching uncontrollably. Another sho🌌ws a boy with glazed eyes and pinpoint pupils♍, apparently on the verge of death.
The gut-wrenching footage is part of a full-court press by Obama to sway skeptical lawm👍akers and war-weary voters to support his plan for military intervention in Syria.
“I hope that every member of Congress, before he or she casts or decides how they’re going to cast their vote, will take a look at those ꦫvideos,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said on “Fox News Sunday.”
He called the footage “unbelievably horrendous.”
“And to think about the numbersꦬ of children — we believe more than 400 — killed by this heinous attack using this terrible weapon, a weapon which has been prohibited in much of the rest of the wo🍌rld for the last 100 years,” said McDonough.
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He i𒅌nsisted a “targeted, consequential, limited attack” would halt Bashar al-Assad’s war crimes ಞand dissuade Iran and Hezbollah from using weapons of mass destruction.
The administration vouched for the authenticity of t🧜he videos, which it claimed were shot by Syrian re༒bels. But the footage could not be independently verified.
McDonough appeared on five network talk shows Sunday to kick off Obama’s inte♕nse effort to build support for USꦡ missile strikes against Assad’s regime.
Lawmakers have called on Obama to help convince voters, who have been registering opposition by a roughly 9-to-1 ratܫio at congressional offices.
Obama also will make the case for a “limited” attack on Syria in interviews with all fi🌺ve major network and cable news outꦯlets, capped with an address to the nation Tuesday night.
Getting the congressional votes will be amꦜong the toughest challenges yet for Obama, who has staked his credibili💫ty on warning Syria not to cross a “red line” by using chemical weapons.
As part of his push for ⛎support, Obama dropped in on a dinner held by Vice President Joe Biden for GOP senators on Sunday night, and will meet with Senate Democrats Tuesday.
A close vote is expected when the Senate takes up the resolution Wednesday. But the House appears poised to reject the resol🉐ution when it 🍬votes as soon as next week.
“Where’s the national-security issue?” Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Sanche💧z, who said she was leaning toward a “no” vote, s🔴aid she doubted the US intervention would remain limited after missile strikes. “That’s how long wars start,” she said.
On the same show, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) called Obama’s plan “irresponsible.” He said he’d vote no, adding, “It’s a face-saving maneuver for the pr🌄esident after he drew the ‘red line.’’
Warning: Graphic images