Trump, Congress should learn from history, not involve the U.S. further in Syria

Reasonable people can differ on the situation in Syria. But we could likely agree on three points. First, the policies of the previous administration were a serious failure. Second, the policies of the current administration have avoided disaster, but are too murky. Third, it’s appropriate for the U.S. to hang back under the circumstances from a leadership role in greater military action.

Without a doubt, former President Obama’s White House bungled the crisis around the Syrian civil war. Just as it failed to anticipate the Arab Spring and struggled to mount a good response, the White House wildly underestimated the power of the Islamic State and of the Assad regime in Damascus. Now, Iran, Hezbollah and Russia all maintain a potent presence in Syria.

Remarkably, President Donald Trump has managed not to make matters worse than Obama left them. But his administration has had to fight a touchy shadow war. The American people do not have adequate clarity on what our strategy in Syria really is. Fundamentally, Congress must step up and assert its constitutional authority over declarations of war.

Twice now, Trump has chosen to attack the Syrian government, despite there being no imminent national security threat to the United States posed by the Syrian regime. The American people and their representatives in Congress should not accept the idea that the president can deploy our military without congressional authorization.

Fortunately, several members of Congress are speaking out. “Promoting regional stability, mitigating humanitarian catastrophe and deterring the use of chemical weapons might be important foreign policy goals, but if they are pursued with military force, a president must first seek congressional authorization,” said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. He’s completely right.

We believe the U.S. should not wade deeper into the Syria conflict. Not only would doing so risk unnecessary conflict with Russia and strain relations with Turkey — American intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria have only accomplished destabilization, mass suffering and the squandering of trillions of American tax dollars.

We should learn from history and know when to pull back. — Los Angeles Daily News, Digital First Media