Lawmakers to Obama: Syria strikes need our OK

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WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama's possible military intervention in Syria is already running into fierce opposition among some members of Congress, with a growing chorus of Republican and Democratic lawmakers demanding he seek congressional authorization for any strikes against the Assad regime.

In the House, Republican Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia is asking colleagues to sign a letter to Obama urging him to reconvene Congress and seek approval for any military action. And in the Senate, even some who support punishing the Syrian government for launching alleged chemical weapons attacks are joining the call for the president to first gain Congress' approval.

To make their case, lawmakers are citing the 1973 War Powers Resolution. Passed after President Richard Nixon's secret Vietnam War-era operations, the law reaffirmed Congress' constitutional responsibility to declare war and put a 60-day time limit on the president's ability to take unauthorized, emergency military action. Since then, commanders in chief of both parties have maintained that the resolution is unconstitutional and have regularly disregarded it.

After a decade of costly and deadly fighting in the Muslim world, Americans strongly oppose any new U.S. war in the region. Opinions in Congress are mixed as well. Republicans are split between hawks and tea party isolationists. Democrats are divided between advocates of humanitarian intervention and those who fear that even limited action risks sucking the United States into another conflict.

Despite the divides, legislators of varying political hue are trying to reassert what they claim is their power to authorize the use of force.

Lawmakers are scheduled to return from a five-week recess on Sept. 9.

It's unclear what impact all the activity will yield.

When the U.S. acted with allies against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi two years ago, Obama maintained military operations for more than three months without congressional authorization. He said the U.S. wasn't violating the War Powers Resolution because Americans were supporting a NATO-led operation and weren't engaged in full-blown hostilities. Despite criticism from mainly Republican lawmakers, Obama suffered no serious repercussions.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20130827/US--Congress-Syria/