Senate Dem fears long-term conflict in Syria

The U.S. doesn’t currently have a “realistic political strategy” necessary to prevent open-ended military conflict in Syria, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) warned Sunday.

{mosads}The Democratic lawmaker said he needs to hear more from President Obama about the “end-game strategy” for Syria, because he remains unconvinced that even with American airstrikes, training and weapons supplies, the moderate opposition will be able to gain a foothold of political power in Syria.

“What we know is you ultimately can’t defeat ISIS with a military strategy alone, you need a realistic political strategy and I just don’t think we have that today in Syria right now,” Murphy said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“If we are betting on the so-called Syrian moderates to be able to defeat both [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] and Bashar al Assad at the same time, I ultimately don’t think this is how this is going to end up.”

The moderate Syrian opposition has been the lynchpin of the White House strategy for defeating and degrading ISIS. The terror group has been among the chief antagonists of Assad, who President Obama has said repeatedly must be removed from power. There was concern airstrikes against the ISIS could ultimately bolster Damascus.

The White House has said it can prevent that by happening through a program authorized by Congress earlier this month that allows the Pentagon to train and arm moderate rebels.

But Murphy says the U.S. needs “to listen to some of our European partners who are reluctant to engage militarily there.”

“Ultimately, I don’t think we have a partner in the Free Syrian Army, who ultimately can win that fight militarily, so I worry you get sucked into a long-term conflict,” he said.

One way to assuage the concerns, Murphy added, would be a explicit vote on an authorization of military force in the U.S. Congress.

“That’s the check of a war without end is a Congress speaking for the American people that can put an end date on an authorization for military force or put a limitation so you can’t use ground troops,” Murphy said, adding there was “just no appetite in the American public for an open-ended military conflict in Syria.”

The White House said Friday that the president and his national security team believe “he has all of the statutory authority that’s required to order the military action that’s being carried out right now,” but that the administration would appreciate a vote to authorize force in Syria.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said such a vote would “send a very powerful message to the American people, to our allies, and even to our enemies that across party lines and even across branches of government, that the American people are united in our determination to pursue a strategy that will degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS.