Obama Unlikely to Allow House Vote on Syria War

Vote Would Risk Britain-Style Defeat for Conflict

As the US attack on Syria gets closer and closer, the administration is hard at work lobbying Congressional hawks for their public endorsements of the war, mostly focusing on Sens. John McCain (R – AZ), and Lindsey Graham (R – SC), who never saw a war they didn’t want to escalate.

But getting them in on selling the war on the Sunday news circuit isn’t the same thing as letting them actually vote on it, and that’s something the administration seems determined to avoid, particularly after Britain’s Thursday vote ended up vetoing their military involvement.

Polls show an overwhelming majority of the American public want Congress involved in the decision-making process, and 162 members of the House of Representatives are on record wanting debate and a vote before the war.

But the House is in recess until September 9, and the administration seems unwilling to bring them back into session early for a vote that isn’t guaranteed to go their way. Congress may eventually get to debate the war, but if it happens at all, it will be after it is started.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.