U.S. House approves Obama’s Syria strike plan

The U.S. House of Representatives this week approved, by a margin of 273 to 156 votes, President Barack Obama’s plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels in a bid to halt the advance of Islamic State, the jihadist militant outfit that has seized control of significant territories in that country and neighbouring Iraq over the summer and sought to establish an Islamic caliphate in the region.

Although the less-than-overwhelming tally of ‘yes’ votes appeared to indicate some consternation in Congress about Washington’s rapidly deepening involvement in the crisis, the vote nevertheless brings the U.S. a step closer to troop deployment in active combat roles, which Mr. Obama has thus far said he intended to avoid.

Following the vote, the President however reiterated his intention when he said, “There will be no U.S. military personnel in Syria as part of this programme. We’ve learned over the last decade, and through our successful campaign to degrade al-Qaeda, that it is more effective to use America’s unique capabilities to take out terrorist targets in support of our partners’ efforts on the ground to secure their own future.”

The House’s vote comes a week after Mr. Obama announced a plan to “degrade and ultimately destroy” IS, as part of which he said he would also be sending 475 additional military personnel to Iraq to protect U.S. assets and advise Iraqi forces, thus bringing to 1,600 the total number of American servicemen in the country.

Nevertheless more than 40 per cent of Democrats opposed the White House’s proposals, which reports suggested could be due to concerns that U.S. military operations in West Asia “could fester for several years with no clear strategy or definition of success.”

On the other hand Republicans in Congress, who supplied the major share of support for Mr. Obama’s plans, apparently believe that the operations he has outlined so far are “too limited.”

The  Washington Post  quoted an unnamed “top GOP leader” suggesting that Congress could give the White House “blanket military authority,” even if they didn’t want it, especially after the November elections, when a more extensive debate on the fight against Islamist militants is expected.