Sen. Boxer: Iraq A "Totally False Comparison" To Syria
SEN. BARBARA BOXER: Now, since I came to the Senate, I voted against the Iraq War, but I did vote for the use of force against Osama bin Laden. I voted to support air strikes against Serbia, but I vocally opposed the military surge in Afghanistan. So I approached this Syria issue in the same way I approached those, with a very heavy heart and very independent mind. I have heard some of my colleagues compare his decision on Syria with the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, and I thank Secretary Kerry for discussing this because I believe it is a totally false comparison, and I know its been mentioned before. You drew that line again. The Bush administration prepared to invade and occupy a country with well over 100,000 troops. In this case the president has been clear: no ground invasion, no occupation. We will have that in our resolution.
So why should we take any targeted action against Syria? Not only is important to keep North Korea in mind, but also, allowing the continued use of chemical weapons to go unanswered makes it much more likely that we will see it used again in Syria and we will see it used maybe elsewhere, and terrorists could obtain those and use them on America or our allies and troops, use them, for example, against Israel and other friends. It makes it more likely, and this is key, that Iran will view us as a paper tiger when it comes to their nuclear program, and that is dangerous, not only for us and friends, but for the world.
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