NEW YORK TIMES: The White House’s aggressive push for Congressional approval of an attack on Syria appeared to have won the tentative support of one of President Obama’s most hawkish Republican critics, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who said Monday that he supported a “limited” strike if the president did more to arm the Syrian opposition.
In an hourlong meeting at the White House, Mr. McCain said Mr. Obama gave general support to doing more for the Syrian rebels, although no specifics were discussed. In the same conversation, which also included Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, officials said that Mr. Obama indicated that a covert effort by the United States to train the Syrian rebels was beginning to yield results: the first 50-man cell of fighters, which have been trained by the C.I.A., was beginning to sneak into Syria…
Although the words from Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham were a positive development for Mr. Obama and a critical part of the administration’s lobbying blitz on Syria on Monday, the White House still faces a tough fight in Congress. Many lawmakers entirely oppose a strike, and others favor a resolution that provides for more limited military action than what is in a draft resolution that the White House has sent to Capitol Hill. The conflict of opinion underscores Mr. Obama’s challenge in winning a vote in the House and Senate next week and avoiding personal defeat… (more)
