President Barack Obama is prepared to move ahead with a limited military strike on Syria, administration officials said Thursday (Aug. 28), despite a rejection of such action by America鈥檚 strongest ally, Britain, and mounting concerns from Congress.
But, David Cortright, director of policy studies at the University of Notre Dame鈥檚 Kroc Institute for International Peace 91视频, believes that would be a mistake. Read Cortright鈥檚 op-eds on Syria in and the .
鈥淭he British Parliament鈥檚 rejection of military action in Syria is a body blow against the Obama administration鈥檚 already weak political argument for attacking Syria,鈥� Cortright says. 鈥淭he president is standing alone and exposed. There is no need to rush to judgment.鈥�
British Prime Minister David Cameron lost Thursday鈥檚 vote endorsing military action by 13 votes, all but guaranteeing that Britain will play no direct role in any U.S. attack on Syria鈥檚 government.
鈥淭he British Parliament vote shows that careful and wide deliberation is essential to the democratic use of force in complex situations like responding to the use of chemical weapons in Syria,鈥� says former U.N. adviser and top sanctions expert George A. Lopez, the Hesburgh Professor of Peace 91视频 at Notre Dame鈥檚 Kroc Institute. Lopez served as a panelist this week discussing the crisis in Syria on and .
鈥淧erhaps the vote will spark the search for strong, non-military measures that will protect civilians in this terrible war,鈥� Lopez says. 鈥淎t the same time, Britain is rightly pushing ahead with a resolution at the U.N. Security Council to condemn the chemical attack and to call upon the Council to authorize 鈥榓ll necessary means鈥� to hold the perpetrators of these atrocities 鈥� presumably the Assad regime 鈥� accountable for their actions. A number of measures short of military strikes might be employed with states reserving military measures for a subsequent offense.鈥�
Chemical weapons are banned under international law, but so is unauthorized military force, according to Mary Ellen O鈥機onnell, professor of international law and research professor of international dispute resolution at the Kroc Institute.
Author of 鈥淲hat is War?鈥� O鈥機onnell says, 鈥淭he Security Council could authorize the use of force, but only by showing that any attack can accomplish a legitimate military objective. When it comes to arms control, military force has no record of success; it succeeds in taking innocent lives. Diplomacy can work, and that is where the world鈥檚 attention needs to be now 鈥� not on more death and destruction.鈥�
O鈥機onnell recently published op-eds focusing on the legality of military force in Syria in and .
Contacts: David Cortright, 574-631-8536 or dcortrig@nd.edu; George Lopez, 574-631-6972 or lopez.1@nd.edu; Mary Ellen O鈥機onnell, 574-631-7953 or maryellenoconnell@nd.edu