Congressional Vote on Syria Could Prove Short-Term Domestic Boon for Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to seek authorization from Congress for a strike on Syria may be part of a more comprehensive short-term strategy meant to alleviate the pressure facing him at home, including tackling the budget ceiling issue on the domestic front, experts say.

Approaching a contentious budget battle this month, any time set aside for debate in Congress will now be eaten up by the pressing issue of launching a military operation in Syria, in response to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian military, analysts told Reuters.

The vote in Congress on Syria has increased the likelihood that U.S. lawmakers will agree to a short-term government funding measure, as they wouldn’t otherwise be able to pass legislation in time to avoid a federal shutdown by October 1st, the start of the new fiscal year.

But the long-term questions still remain, though they may be answered in the coming days as the outline of a potential military operation in Syria becomes clearer.

“How are they going to pay for this operation? Are they going to use a war supplement or pay for it out of existing funds? Too much is unknown,” Boris Zilberman, deputy director of Congressional relations at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told The Algemeiner. “If they need a war supplement to fund it, then does it make a [budget] deal more likely? Probably. But I think there are more questions than answers right now.”

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Report: Assad Moves Weapons Underground as U.S. Strike Looms

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has begun to move his arsenal of advanced weapons underground in preparation for a possible strike on the country by the United States, Israel’s Channel 1o reported on Wednesday.

Since learning of U.S. President Obama’s desire to attack Syria, Assad ‘s forces have begun to move the weapons, including possibly chemical warheads, into underground bunkers. The process was accelerated when Damascus realized that the U.S. strike would not be a surprise and in fact would be delayed by a Congressional vote, Channel 10 said.

The underground facilities are similar to those built by Iran near the city of Qom in order to protect its nuclear facilities against attacks…

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