Kerry also said that Israel backed the need for a U.S. military response. Kerry to Dems: 'Munich moment'

Secretary of State John Kerry told House Democrats that the United States faced a “Munich moment” in deciding whether to respond to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.

In a 70-minute conference call on Monday afternoon, Kerry derided Syrian President Bashar Assad as a “two-bit dictator” who will “continue to act with impunity,” and he urged lawmakers to back President Barack Obama’s plan for “limited, narrow” strikes against the Assad regime, Democratic sources on the call said.


Kerry’s derisive comments on Assad and his reference to the 1938 Munich agreement between Adolf Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain — after which Chamberlain infamously declared it would lead to “peace for our time” — showed the hard line the White House is taking in its drive for congressional approval of the Syrian resolution. Top administration officials argue that a failure by the United States to respond to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime will only lead to more violence and instability in the region.

( Also on POLITICO: Grayson: Munich metaphor 'stupid')

Kerry also said that Israel, America’s closest ally in the region, backed the need for a U.S. military response.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spoke out in favor of the White House position, calling nonproliferation on chemical weapons and other weapons of a mass destruction a key to American national security policy. Pelosi and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are scheduled to meet with Obama on Tuesday at the White House.

Roughly 130 Democrats took part in the conference call, according to Democratic aides.

But Kerry — who was joined by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on the call — also faced pushback from Democratic lawmakers.

( PHOTOS: Scenes from Syria)

Minnesota Rep. Rick Nolan challenged the evidence that Obama administration officials have presented on the reported use of chemical weapons by Assad’s force against Syrian civilians. U.S. intelligence officials and Syrian rebel groups claim that more than 1,000 Syrian died in that attack, including hundreds of children.

Nolan and Kerry got into a “heated exchange,” according to multiple sources on the call. Nolan compared Syria to Vietnam, which angered Kerry, who was wounded during that conflict.

In a statement afterward, Nolan said the call further convinced him to not support the president’s plan, and he added that Assad should be tried in an international court.

( Also on POLITICO: Kerry: Syria tests positive for sarin)

“After a three-hour classified briefing and taking time to read all the classified documents, what I have heard and read has only served to convince me more than ever of the folly and danger of getting America involved in the Syrian civil war,” Nolan said. “I will vote and work against President Obama’s request for open-ended authority to launch military strikes against the Syrian army.”

Several Democrats raised the issue of potential “collateral damage” from any U.S. strikes inside Syria. California Rep. Xavier Becerra, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said lawmakers could receive classified briefings on that issue.

Kerry told the Democratic lawmakers that several Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, will support American military action, along with France and Turkey.

( Also on POLITICO: Chuck Hagel, thought a dove, readies for action)

He also suggested that British government may “revisit” its opposition to participating in any Syrian campaign launched by the United States.

The call was part of a larger outreach to Congress on the part of the White House that included a meeting between Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham and Obama. After the meeting, McCain said a failed vote in Congress would be “catastrophic” for the president and the United States.

Still, McCain said he still needed convincing. “I’m already talking to a lot of my colleagues, but before I can persuade them to support this, I have to be persuaded,” McCain said. “I’m saying that I think the president made sense in a lot of things he had to say, but we are a long way from achieving what I think would be a most effective strategy.”

Graham told reporters afterward he hopes Obama will outline his plans to not only strike, but to aid Syrian rebels, as well.

Kerry will head back to Capitol Hill again this week to testify before lawmakers on the administration’s request for authorization of military action in Syria. He’ll go before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — which he once chaired — on Tuesday followed by an appearance in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who was on Monday’s call, said the majority of lawmakers are seeking more information before deciding whether to back U.S. intervention in the two-year-old Syrian civil war.

“I think most members are trying to do their due diligence before they conclude how they might vote,” he said.

Connolly said the participation of top-level administration officials in the briefing showed how serious the White House is about winning congressional support. “That’s as high as it gets in terms of national security, and I think that in and of itself was a clear signal to the administration’s commitment to try to engage with Congress.”

Connolly, though, is concerned about the wording of a White House-drafted resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria. Connolly says he’s working right now with “several” colleagues to try to narrow down how the resolution is worded. “I think we want to make sure that it’s not an open-ended thing.”

The Virginia Democrat said several options suggested by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), such as a ban on “boots on the ground” and an expiration date for military involvement, are being considered.

“I think the bottom line is that there are real consequences for doing nothing and with respect to rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran and other bad actors in the region and to future generations that may be facing this issue, that it’s vitally important to U.S. interests and the international community that the convention on chemical weapons .. be adhered to and enforced, and allies like Israel would be put enormously at risk absent some” action, Connolly added.

California Democratic Rep. Janice Hahn, on the other hand, said she still didn’t support intervention in Syria after Monday’s call and a classified briefing Sunday.

“I’m still not convinced at this time that we should be taking a military action in Syria,” Hahn said on CNN on Monday afternoon. “I do think [the administration has] a high level of confidence that chemical weapons were used against their own citizens. One hundred percent whether or not it was Assad who ordered those chemical weapons was not there.”

She said she still had questions about the scope, duration and objective of a military strike.

“I was on a conference call this morning with Secretary Kerry and Susan Rice and Defense Secretary Hagel. And you know, this is clearly not about a regime change. This is really only about sending this message to Assad,” Hahn said.

Obama took flak on Monday from even close allies, who called on the president to make a stronger case to the American people and Congress justifying action.

“It’s really incumbent on the president to go speak directly to the American people about what’s at stake for this country and how we face down dictators that use chemical weapons against their own people,” former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on NBC’s “Today” on Monday, calling the decision to go to Congress for a vote “an enormous political gamble.”

For his part, Assad said in an exclusive interview released Monday by a French publication that the White House thus far has failed to offer proof of chemical weapons use.

“Whoever accuses must offer proof. We have challenged the United States and France to offer a single proof. Mr. Obama and Mr. Hollande have been unable, including before their peoples,”Assad said in an told Le Figaro, according to a translation by POLITICO.

Reid Epstein and Tal Kopan contributed to this report.