FOXNews.com: McCain has guarded optimism after White House meeting on Syria

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McCain has guarded optimism after White House meeting on Syria Sep 2nd 2013, 19:28 President Obama met Sunday with Sen. John McCain, considered his closest Republican ally on Capitol Hill, in his effort to win congressional support for a punitive military action against Syria, as the Pentagon prepared the Nimitz aircraft carrier group for a potential strike. McCain has emerged as one of Obama's top Capitol Hill negotiators on several recent Capitol Hill deals, most notably with the president's immigration-reform initiative that needed Republican support to pass in the Senate. This time Obama will need Republican support, particularly in the GOP-led House, to get Congress to vote in favor of his plan to launch a military strike against Syrian President Bashar Assad, who the administration says ordered an Aug. 21 sarin-gas attack that killed more than 1,400 of his own people. McCain emerged from the roughly one-hour meeting saying that he doesn't expect Congress will vote against a strike because it would "undermine the credibility of the president and the United States. … But we have a long way to go." He also echoed the Capitol Hill focus that has emerged since Obama said Saturday that he would strike Syria – making sure the effort is clearly intended to oust Assad and helping the rebels. "What we want to do is degrade Assad's capabilities and upgrade that of the rebel forces." At least three U.S. ships are already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, from where the U.S. is expected to launch a missile strike. The Pentagon said the Nimitz group, which includes four destroyers, will remain in the southern Red Sea and called the decision "a prudent movement of forces should the capabilities of the strike group be needed." McCain was joined at the White House by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a fellow Republican and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Graham emerged from the meeting with similar remarks, adding that he is seeing signs that the White House is moving toward a more clearly defined mission. "I can't sell an attack like the ones on Iraq and Afghanistan because I don't want to," he also said. Obama, in his efforts to win America's support for a punitive strike on Syria, also faces the similar-yet-larger challenge of gaining international support, with Russia and China on Monday leading the international opposition. Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said the information the U.S. showed Moscow trying to prove that the Syrian regime was behind the recent chemical-weapons attack is "absolutely unconvincing." Moscow is Assad's key ally, weapons supplier and protector at the United Nations. Meanwhile, China said it opposes the U.S. acting alone and that any response must conform to the United Nations Charter and the basic principles underlying international relations. "China is highly concerned about the relevant country's plan on taking unilateral military action," said Hong Lei, a spokesman for the country's Foreign Ministry. And the Syrian government has denied ordering the sarin gas attack and has reportedly asked the United Nations to prevent "any aggression" in response to the allegation. Right now, France is the only country to support United States' efforts, after the British Parliament last week rejected Prime Minister David Cameron's proposal to endorse military action against Syria. The Assad family has ruled in Syria for four decades, and more than 100,000 people have been killed in the roughly 2-year-long civil war to overthrow the Assad regime. Eighty-three members of Congress attended a classified briefing Sunday on Capitol Hill with administration officials. The full House and Senate return from summer recess on Sept. 9, but party leaders are considering whether to call members back early. On Sunday, the president and his inner circle worked furiously over the weekend to win congressional support, appearing on Sunday shows, holding classified briefings and making calls to Capitol Hill leaders. A senior administration official told Fox News that the president, Vice President Joe Biden and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough made phone calls on Sunday to senators and House members urging them to vote in favor of the authorization of military force in Syria. The effort was preceded by Secretary of State John Kerry blanketing the Sunday shows and administration officials proceeding with a round of weekend briefings, as Capitol Hill lawmakers said Obama may not have the votes right now. "I would say if the vote were today, it would probably be a no vote," New York Rep. Peter King, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told "Fox News Sunday." The comment underscored the risk Obama took in deciding over the weekend to seek approval from Congress, a step King argues he didn't need to take. Kerry told "Fox News Sunday" that he couldn't imagine Congress would "turn its back" on Israel or other U.S. allies in the region and on the Syrians slaughtered in the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack, allegedly ordered by Assad. Kerry's comments and the White House blitz were the latest in a series of dramatic turn of events since the chemical weapon attack two weeks ago outside Damascus. Obama made the surprising announcement Saturday, saying he had decided on a limited military response but would seek Congress' approval. The announcement followed Kerry's impassioned speech Friday for punishing Assad, whom he called a "thug" and a "criminal." However, the largely Republican opposition to the strike had already taken shape and continued Sunday. Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the U.S. getting involved in the roughly 2-year-long Syrian civil war is a mistake and that the president has about a "50-50" chance of getting House approval. Democrats also expressed reservations. "I certainly enter this debate as a skeptic, but I'm going to allow the administration to make its case this week," Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told NBC. The administration's classified briefings this holiday weekend included Republicans and Democrats in the GOP-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Obama will likely have the strongest support for the biggest foreign policy vote since Congress authorized President George W. Bush to invade Iraq. Kerry, who appeared on all five major Sunday talk shows, said support from Capitol Hill and the public will give America the legitimacy of a "full-throated" response. "Our country is much stronger when we act together," said Kerry, knocking back speculation that Obama's weekend announcement went against the advice of his national security team. "No decision is made until the president of the United States makes the decision," he said. Kerry also said Obama has the authority to launch retaliatory strikes with or without Congress' approval, but stopped short of saying the president would do so if the House or Senate withholds support. In an apparent attempt to win congressional support, he said the United States has received hair and blood samples from first responders indicating sarin was used in the attack in the Damascus suburbs. It was the first piece of specific physiological evidence cited by the administration, which previously cited only an unnamed nerve agent in the killings. A little more than a year ago, Obama declared that Assad's use of chemical weapons would be the "red line" in a conflict that he has steadfastly avoided. But Obama deferred any immediate action Saturday by announcing that he first would seek congressional authorization. Late Saturday, the White House sent Congress a draft resolution authorizing force against Syria to "deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade" the Assad regime's ability to use chemical weapons. It doesn't lay out a timeline for action or detail Obama's strategy. Lawmakers told Fox News after a briefing Sunday that Congress will likely revise the resolution before voting on it. Among their concerns was that the words "targeted" and "limited" were not included, though the president has repeatedly said that would be the scope of such an attack.

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