WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is prepared to use U.S. military airstrikes in Syria as part of an expanded campaign to defeat the Islamic State and does not believe he needs formal congressional approval to take that action, according to people who have spoken with the president in recent days.
Obama discussed his plans at a dinner with a bipartisan group of foreign-policy experts this week at the White House and made clear his belief that he has the authority to attack the militant Islamist group on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border to protect U.S national security, multiple people who participated in the discussion said. The move to attack in Syria would represent a remarkable escalation in strategy for Obama, who has sought during his presidency to reduce the U.S. military engagement in the Middle East.
Administration officials have been working in recent days to enlist the support of the nation’s political establishment to help sell their strategy to the American public, which Obama will address during a prime-time speech Wednesday night — hours before anniversary commemorations of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that drew the U.S. into war in Afghanistan.
The president met with the top four congressional leaders Tuesday, while his aides held briefings on Capitol Hill.
The intensity of the outreach amounted to a tacit acknowledgment by administration officials that they have been slow in formulating a strategy to confront the militants and in conveying that vision more broadly. Islamic State controls wide swaths of territory in both countries, but the United States has so far limited its military engagement to Iraq, as Obama has been reluctant to intervene in Syria’s civil war.
Obama is committed to taking the fight to Islamic State “wherever their strategic targets are,” said Michele Flournoy, a former U.S. undersecretary of defense policy who was among those at Monday’s dinner.
“This is not an organization that respects international boundaries,” said Flournoy, who left the Obama administration in 2012 and now serves as chief executive of the Center for a New American Security. “You cannot leave them with a safe haven. … I expect him to be very candid.”
Obama will also ask Congress to quickly authorize the arming and training of Syrian opposition forces but will press forward without formal sign-off from lawmakers on a broader military and political effort to combat militants in Syria and Iraq, administration officials said.
The president’s broader strategy could include more wide-ranging airstrikes against targets in Iraq and possibly in Syria — and hinges on military and political commitments from allies in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere.
On the eve of the announcement, the Republican-controlled House voted 249-163 to condemn Obama for failing to give 30-day notice to Congress about the exchange in May of American prisoner Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Some 22 Democrats — many locked in tough re-election races — breaking ranks and backing the nonbinding resolution.
Congressional Republicans and some Democrats have criticized Obama as being too cautious. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters that “what we need is a strategy,” then after meeting with the president later issued a statement of support. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a floor speech that Obama “needs to explain to Congress how additional authorities of the use of force will protect Americans.”
Obama informed lawmakers during the session that he did not need new authority from Congress to pursue his approach, according to congressional leadership aides.
Also, former Vice President Dick Cheney made his case for more-aggressive intervention in Iraq in a meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday.
