General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If there is one area liberals should trust Obama, it's foreign policy. [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)First, there had been a lawsuit from several members of Congress, Democrat and Republican over his getting us involved in Libya without consulting Congress, as required (maybe) by the Constitution. That lawsuit had been dismissed because those members had not shown that they were speaking for Congress. However, as to Syria, there ha been a letter signed by over 100 members of Congress saying that the President should consult Congress over Syria, followed by a letter from Boehner raising 14 legal questions about how the President was proceeding as to Syria. It was after those things that Obama "backed off."
However, Pelosi and Boehner recently amended the Constitution (maybe) by telling Obama there was no reason for him to consult Congress about re-committing us to Iraq.
My "maybes" are not sarcasm. As is so often the case, the law is not clear. However, the point is, he didn't back down on Syria out of a clear blue sky. There was a context, also as is so often the case.