Sen. John McCain, President Obama's biggest cheerleader on Capitol Hill for a strike in Syria, said Wednesday that he would not support a Senate panel's draft resolution authorizing the use of force.
"There are a number of people who are unhappy," McCain told reporters on Capitol Hill. Asked if he supported the measure, McCain said, "In its current form, I do not."
The decision is a setback for the administration's effort to win swift support from Congress for an attack.
McCain, who has long favored stepped-up U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war, said he opposes the resolution crafted by fellow Sens. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Bob Corker of Tennessee. The resolution puts a 90-day limit on action and says no American troops can be sent to Syria.
McCain reportedly wants more than cruise missile strikes and "limited" action; he wants to tilt the direction of the civil war. He has, though, said he doesn't want combat troops on the ground in Syria.
The Arizona Republican threatened earlier this week to vote against a White House draft resolution unless Obama promised to support Syria's rebels. Following a meeting with Obama at the White House on Monday, McCain seemed to indicate support for a broad plan to respond to the use of chemical weapons, though he stopped short of saying he supported a specific resolution.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee could vote on authorizing the use of force as early as Wednesday afternoon, the first in a series of votes as the president's request makes its way through Senate and House committees before coming before the two chambers for a final vote.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/04/mccain-opposes-syria-strike-resolution/#ixzz2dw8tEnG5
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