A noted pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, finally broke its silence on Syria and said Tuesday that President Obama’s call for military strikes is a good plan.
Lawmakers should stand by the president, AIPAC said in a statement reported by The Hill.
Congress should give him “the authority he has requested to protect America’s national security interests and dissuade the Syrian regime’s further use of unconventional weapons,” the group said. “The civilized world cannot tolerate the use of these barbaric weapons … barbarism on a mass scale must not be given a free pass.”
AIPAC also said the White House faced a “critical moment” in its mulling of military action in Syria, given the message any action — or failure to take action — would send to Iran and Hezbollah, friends of President Bashar Assad.
“Failure to approve this resolution would weaken our country’s credibility to prevent the use and proliferation of unconventional weapons and thereby greatly endanger our country’s security and interests and those of our regional allies,” it said in The Hill article, which did not specify if “our country” meant Israel or the United States.
AIPAC’s statement comes after a week of noticeable silence on the White House’s ongoing debate on Syria. And it came just as another prominent pro-Israel group, the Anti-Defamation League, gave a thumbs up to military action in Syria.
On Tuesday, the ADL said Congress “should act swiftly to add its voice” to the list of those who condemn Mr. Assad’s chemical weapon killing of his own citizens.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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