(CNN) — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the world set a red line against chemical weapons use that he now seeks to apply to Syria, while a Senate committee approved a resolution authorizing the U.S. military attack that he is planning.
By a 10-7 vote, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the resolution that authorizes a limited military response, giving Obama an initial victory in his push to win congressional approval.
The measure now goes to the full Senate for debate next week. The Democratic-led chamber is expected to pass it, but the outcome is less clear in the Republican-led House where top diplomatic and military officials made their case on Wednesday for action.
In Sweden on the first of a three-day overseas trip that includes the G-20 summit in Russia, Obama told reporters that the red line he spoke of last year regarding Syria’s use of chemical weapons came from international treaties and past congressional action, rather than something he “made up.”
Obama also insisted he had the authority to order attacks — expected to be cruise missile strikes on Syrian military command targets — even if Congress rejects his request for authorization.
America “recognizes that if the international community fails to maintain certain norms, standards, laws, governing how countries interact and how people are treated, that over time this world becomes less safe,” Obama said. “It becomes more dangerous not only for those people who are subjected to these horrible crimes, but to all of humanity.”
He cited World War II as an example, saying “the people of Europe are certainly familiar with what happens when the international community finds excuses not to act.” At the same time, “as commander in chief, I always preserve the right and the responsibility to act on behalf of America’s national security,” Obama said.
Conservative critics have said Obama painted himself into a corner with his statement last year that Syria’s use of chemical weapons was a red line that would change his approach to its civil war.
