Florida Republicans sitting on key congressional foreign-policy committees part ways when it comes to what to do in Syria.
Freshman Ted Yoho, R-Fla., a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, introduced a sentence-long bill Wednesday that would prohibit any and all U.S. government funding of the opposition forces in the Syrian civil war.
"Anyone who thinks that arming rebel opposition in Syria is a good idea should learn lessons from our past. These same policies have created monsters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hot spots around the globe," Yoho said in a statement on Wednesday. "The Syrian opposition is a mix of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria and organizations that have pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. To think we can guarantee any assistance wont come to the aid of the groups that mean us harm is naive at best and fatal at worst. I dont believe arming anyone in Syria makes any American safer."
The substantive statutory language, in its entirety, reads as follows: "No funds made available to the Department of Defense or any other United States Government department or agency may be obligated or expended to provide military assistance to opposition forces in Syria."
Last week, the Obama administration announced it would be arming and training Syrian rebel forces battling incumbent dictator Bashar al-Assad as critics of an active foreign policy have expressed skepticism that the U.S. can meaningfully distinguish between jihadists and secular democrats, ensuring that aid goes to one set of factions rather than the other.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., co-introduced a bill that would require the president to seek congressional approval before assisting or subsidizing rebels, or taking any other military action in Syria. Rooney joined up with U.S. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, to unveil the bill.
What is the goal of providing weapons to the rebels? Rooney, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, demanded on Tuesday. We know that the rebels have been infiltrated by al-Qaida and some of the same people weve been fighting for the last 10 years. Senior administration officials have told me they cant give any assurance that our weapons wont wind up in the hands of al-Qaida. So whats our endgame? If the president wants to take us into Syria, he needs to come to Congress and convince us. The president needs to make a convincing case that this is in our national security interest, and he needs to lay out a clear and comprehensive mission, including an exit strategy. He hasnt done that yet.
But not every Republican in the Florida delegation is on the same page as Yoho and Rooney.
From her perch as the chairwoman of the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., insisted earlier in the month that there were clear security interests in Syria, though she opposes arming the rebels.
Its been over two years since the popular uprisings sparked up across Syria against al-Assad and his murderous regime, Ros-Lehtinen said when her subcommittee held a hearing on Syria on June 5. Amidst the backdrop of the Arab Spring, thousands of Syrians demonstrated against Assad calling for the despotic ruler to step down, to release political prisoners, and institute democratic reforms.These protesters were met swiftly with the harsh hand of Assad as he unleashed his police who doled out brutal beatings upon the demonstrators, resulting in many deaths.
Ros-Lehtinen cited figures that the Assad regime has been responsible for the murder of over 80,000 Syrians, and over 1.5 million people have fled seeking refuge in other countries" before ripping into the Obama administration as deafeningly silent and doing nothing to advance the cause for democratic reform.
Ros-Lehtinen maintained the Obama administrations refusal to act made the situation worse. "The delayed response also allowed for extremist groups and al-Qaida affiliates to move in and co-opt the movement, setting up the bloody conflict that we see every day, she said. Ros-Lehtinen also insisted American allies like Jordan were being impacted by the violence in Syria.
I firmly believe that what we need is a political solution in Syria we cannot shoot our way out of this mess, Ros-Lehtinen said. We need to work with our allies in the region who fear the repercussions of a protracted conflict in Syria, and we need to address the serious issue of Moscow continuing to arm the regime. An influx of Russian arms into Syria has escalated this battle and has helped prop up Assad. If Moscow does not cease arming the regime, the United States should re-evaluate our relationship with Russia.
But Ros-Lehtinen warned that arming Assads opposition could prove costly.
The opposition is too fractured and too convoluted to be able to ensure that the arms dont eventually end up in the wrong hands that may one day turn these weapons against us or our allies like Israel, Ros-Lehtinen said. What we should be focusing on is breaking the Iran-Hezbollah-Assad link, because if Assad falls today, I fear what will happen tomorrow.
Ros-Lehtinen also warned the stakes are high. Syria is the lynchpin that holds Irans strategic influence into the greater Middle East, she said. Should Assad fall, Iran and Hezbollah might quickly move to fill the power vacuum; and should Iran and Hezbollah get a hold of Syrias chemical weapons, not only would this cause greater tensions in the region and seriously [en]danger our friend and ally, Israel, but it could spark an even greater conflict.
Another Florida Repubican with a much higher profile than Yoho, Rooney and Ros-Lehtinen goes ever further in his support for the Syrian rebels. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence, has repeatedly expressed support for arming rebel forces.
In April, after the Obama administration admitted that the regime of Bashar al-Assad had likely used chemical weapons, I called upon the president to clearly state how he intended to respond to this violation of his own stated red line, Rubio said earlier in the month.
Months later, the administrations Syria policy is no clearer than it was then. Instead, weve wasted more time chasing the fantasy of a negotiated settlement involving Russia. This has only given the Assad regime more time to make military gains and resulted in the deaths of more innocent civilians.
It is in Americas interest for Assad to be removed from power and for Syria to be put on a path toward stability, Rubio added. The longer we continue to outsource this problem to other actors, the more the country will fragment, spreading instability, violence, and chaos to its neighbors, with implications for U.S. national security for decades to come."
After first supporting providing ammunition to the Syrian rebels earlier this year,Rubio suggested earlier this month that Obama could arm them.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at 904-521-3722. Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at 954-235-9116.
