President Barack Obama addressed the nation on Tuesday night and said the U.S. is using diplomatic channels to force Syria to cede control of its chemical weapons. He  warned that the U.S. “doesn’t do pinpricks” and said the military be called upon if necessary.
“What kind of world will we live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violate international law with poison gas and we choose to look the other way?” Obama said.
He pledged there would be no American boots on the ground in Syria and said America is not the world’s policeman. The president added a limited strike “send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver.”
In reaction, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, who chairs the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, “the diplomatic door has opened ever so slightly, and while I have doubts about this 11th hour offer, it would be wrong to slam the door shut without due consideration.”
California Democratic U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said the president made it clear that “the use of chemical weapons is despicable and cannot be tolerated by the civilized world.”
Texas Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Flores said Obama “did not lay out a compelling case that Syria represents a clear and present danger to the U.S. nor that military operations in Syria are in the best interests of the country.”  The Republican legislator  added, “Few Americans have confidence in the president’s diplomatic and military initiatives in the Middle East as evidenced by the Admininistration’s failures in Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Libya.”
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