US not focused on Syrian regime change, says top Democrat
If the U.S. takes military action against Syria, it will be focused on preventing President Bashar Assad from using chemical weapons and not on regime change, a senior Democrat said Sunday.
“This is not designed to bring the regime down,” House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
{mosads}Schiff, who has been a staunch opponent of American action in Syria, added that Congress would only back a limited U.S. mission to target Syria’s chemical weapons.
Anything further than that would face harsh opposition on Capitol Hill, Schiff said.
In a separate appearance on Fox News, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he believed U.S. military action would take place soon and would be limited to strategic missile strikes inside the country.
U.S. warships, armed with long-range cruise missiles, are already on station off the coast of Syria.
Missile strikes, according to Schiff, would not be harsh enough to completely destabilize the regime, but “it would be very punishing” to Assad’s ability to carry out chemical weapon attacks.
“We have a core national security interest to make sure that does not happen,” Schiff said regarding future chemical weapon strikes in Syria or elsewhere.
Schiff said the administration cannot waste any time in responding to the Assad regime if conclusive evidence emerges that Syrian troops used those weapons.
“If confirmed, the White House will have to act … [and] it very well it could happen very soon,” Schiff said.
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