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John McCain is claiming that President Obama will be impeached if he puts American boots on the ground in Syria.

Audio:

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Sen. McCain said:

They are largely against any action in Syria, and I understand their skepticism. Their experience level is Iraq. No weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and 4,000 dead. Now Iraq is falling back into chaos. More deaths in Iraq since 2008, so people, we have had that experience, and understandably they’re incredibly skeptical, I understand that, and I’m skeptical too. But the fact is Bashar Assad has massacred 100,000 people. The conflict is spreading. The King of Jordan can not stand. Lebanon is evolving. Iraq is now become a haven for al-Qaeda, and the violence is greater since 2008. The Russians are all in, and the Iranians are all in, and it’s an unfair fight. And no one wants American boots on the ground. Nor will there be American boots on the ground. Because there would be a impeachment of the president if they did that. But I understand the cynicism of the American people, but let’s look at the facts. 100,000 dead. A million children refugees. The slaughter is unbelievable. There’s a quarter of the population of Syria that are now refugees.

McCain also said that Obama has bungled this whole thing.

Contrary to the the other members of his party who are calling for Obama to be impeached, McCain was saying that nobody wants American ground troops in Syria, and that if Obama took that step, he would be impeached.

I suspect that where the Syria issue is heading is that Congress will hold their debate but not vote until the UN report is completed. The president appears to be picking up more international support for action, so if the military plan shifts from the United States acting alone to a global coalition, the resistance of the American people will fade away.

What Americans are skeptical about is anything that reminds them of the foreign policy of George W. Bush. If the vote is held before the UN report is released, and the president is not given authorization, the White House has made it clear that they will not strike Syria.



McCain’s argument that the Middle East is falling apart, so the US has to get involved again is a bad one. The president’s best chance of swaying the American people is build a solid international coalition and come up with a plan for limited action against Assad’s chemical weapons capabilities. What McCain was offering was an excuse for more war. That’s not going to fly with the American people.

For all the fear mongers who are screaming about boots on the ground, it is important to note that the authorization that is being debate will not put boots on the ground. Obama doesn’t want boots on the ground. Republicans and Democrats in Congress don’t want boots on the ground. The American people don’t want boots on the grounds.

The fear mongers on the left and right who are screaming are either lying, or trying like Rand Paul trying to politically profit from this situation. If people don’t want to strike Syria, that’s fine. But let’s have a fact based argument, instead of imagining a situation that isn’t even being considered.

Obama isn’t going to transform into George W. Bush. Congress isn’t going to give Obama the authorization for ground troops, and as McCain pointed out, the consequences of Obama acting alone would be politically catastrophic.

Ground troops aren’t going to happen, but this country needs to have a serious debate about our foreign policy direction and Syria.