Sunday, September 1, 2013

What do you think the United States should do in Syria? Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is soliciting your input.

Message, request for your input from Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Member of Congress

CLICK HERE to view the entire message online or click Read more below.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen would like to hear your opinion on what do you think the United States should do in Syria.

Stated choices:
A)    The United States should take no military action.
B)    The United States should take no military action other than to continue to provide humanitarian assistance.
C)    The United States should not get involved militarily but should continue to provide humanitarian aid and provide more support to the anti-Assad forces, including supplying arms and materiel.
D)    The United States should take no action until we get more evidence and have a UN mandate.
E)     The United States should take immediate action – in coordination with our allies – to attack Assad’s infrastructure and armed forces.
F)     The United States should take immediate action to attack Assad’s infrastructure and armed forces immediately – with or without our allies.
G)    The United States should take immediate action to topple the Assad regime.

This is your opportunity to speak out on this issue.

From Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen's full e-mail blast:
Dear Friends,
The conflict in Syria is nearly two and a half years old, and has seen the Assad regime display an unfathomable brutality against his own people. What began as demonstrations calling for him to step down and make way for freedom and democracy in Syria has now devolved into atrocity after atrocity. Over 100,000 have been killed, with many more wounded or missing. Almost two million Syrians have fled the country, with thousands fleeing Syria every day and seeking refuge in places like Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon and over five million Syrians have been internally displaced. For years there has been a very real concern over the fact that the Assad regime was in possession of a rather large chemical weapons stockpile. Over the course of the Syrian conflict, it is now becoming clear that those fears were very well founded. Our intelligence community earlier this year assessed that Assad had used chemical weapons on a small scale on a number of occasions. Then last week the world was shocked to see hundreds killed as a result of a suspected chemical weapon strike. Since, Secretary of Kerry and President Obama, and many other world leaders, have stated that the preponderance of evidence suggests that Assad again unleashed chemical weapons in his fight to stay in power – only this time on a larger scale.

This is a very serious situation and there are no perfect solutions. All options before the United States and other responsible nations will have serious repercussions. This is a matter of the gravest concern and therefore, the U.S. must exercise extreme caution when deciding its next move and the move after that – and the move after that. The President must consult with Congress and lay out exactly what our national interests and objectives are, no matter what course of action he ultimately opts for. Under the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, the President is obliged to receive authority from Congress first. The President must show Congress and the American public that he understands the potential consequences for our national security interests and of our allies; that he understands all of the possible effects any action in Syria may have across the region, and what may happen in Syria as a result of United States action – with Assad, al-Qaeda, Iran, Hezbollah and Russia.

There is no easy option. But I believe that we cannot simply allow Assad to continue this unthinkable brutality against his own people. We must understand that any action, and even inaction, has the potential to bear dangerous results – for Syria, for the region, for our allies and for the United States. The President must show to the American people and to Congress that he fully understands all the implications of his actions in the coming days, and clearly state his objectives and the U.S. interests at stake.

But I would like to hear your opinion on this matter. What do you think the United States should do in Syria?

A)    The United States should take no military action.

B)    The United States should take no military action other than to continue to provide humanitarian assistance.

C)    The United States should not get involved militarily but should continue to provide humanitarian aid and provide more support to the anti-Assad forces, including supplying arms and materiel.

D)    The United States should take no action until we get more evidence and have a UN mandate.

E)     The United States should take immediate action – in coordination with our allies – to attack Assad’s infrastructure and armed forces.

F)     The United States should take immediate action to attack Assad’s infrastructure and armed forces immediately – with or without our allies.

G)    The United States should take immediate action to topple the Assad regime.
Sincerely,

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Member of Congress