US Congress holds first public hearing on Syria war plans

The US Congress is holding its first public hearing about the White House plans for a military intervention in Syria on Tuesday. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hear testimony from Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey.

Zionist President Barack Obama is to meet Tuesday with leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees, the foreign relations committees and the intelligence committees. Obama formally submitted a draft resolution to both houses of Congress on Saturday authorizing a military intervention in Syria. US lawmakers are expected to vote on the resolution after returning from their summer vocation on September 9.

John Kerry claimed on Sunday that the US has “proof” that government forces used sarin nerve gas in the August 21 attack. Russia has rejected the evidence was “unconvincing.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov said “We were shown certain pieces of evidence that did not contain anything concrete, neither geographical locations, nor names, nor evidence that samples had been taken by professionals.”

Obama says he’s confident Congress will vote in favor of military action but lawmakers are far from unity on whether to authorize the attack against Syria. Several dozen of them who had gone to Washington for a Sunday’s closed-door briefing at the Capitol, had mixed reactions.

Some of them said they were not convinced that chemical weapons were used and that the resolution would fail. Some others, including Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn, said they were convinced that a chemical attack has taken place by the government of Syria but that is not a good reason to go to war. Some others argued that the US should go to war but should not act alone.

Recent polls have shown little support among Americans for a military intervention in Syria. The prospect of a new war has prompted protests across the US. Anti-war demonstrators are afraid that an attack on the Arab country would lead to wider conflict.