Ohio’s Democrats and Republicans on Trump’s Syria strike
In case you haven’t heard, last week President Donald Trump bombarded a Syrian airbase with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles after it appeared the Syrian government used chemical weapons on civilians. Naturally, this has ignited some comments from Ohio’s politicians.
Assad regime committed war crimes that can not be tolerated. U.S. response was appropriate and necessary. #SyriaStrikes
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) April 7, 2017
Assad must go. And whether he is forced out soon or later, he must be tried for war crimes. We should begin that process now. #Syria
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) April 7, 2017
Gov. John Kasich took to Twitter to voice his support for the missile strikes, then calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to be ousted. This is a reversal from his position during the campaign when Kasich said he didn’t want the United States to get involved in the civil war against Assad. It’s unclear what caused Kasich’s change of heart on Assad, since in 2013 Assad used chemical weapons to kill 1,400 Syrians.According to the Dispatch, most of Ohio’s congressional delegation expressed support for the strikes in line with Kasich’s comments. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) held reservations over the lack of transparency from the Trump administration.“Neither Congress nor the American people know the full extent of how this Trump administration action was planned and executed,” Kaptur said.The most interesting comment comes from Congressman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) who supported the airstrikes and also condemned “the Obama administration’s inaction after Assad’s previous attack.” It should be noted that Stivers voted against Obama’s authorization of military force against the Syrian government in 2013.It is now unclear if Trump will consult Congress about future military action in Syria. According to the Dispatch article, both Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) want more information from the White House as to their future plans. The White House has not commented on what they plan to do further in Syria.