Press release
From the Buncombe County Young Republicans:
Regarding the possibility of American military intervention in Syria, the Buncombe County Young Republicans release the following statement:
“In the strongest possible terms, we encourage all members of Congress to vote against any resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria.
While we applaud President Obama for bringing the case for war against Syria to the American people via congressional consent, we do not feel it is wise to intervene in a civil war where no American interests are at stake and there is no clear ally. Furthermore, if Congress votes down a military resolution against Syria, we implore the president to abide by Constitutional statutes and his own standard from 2007 in which he told the Boston Globe: “As President, I will not assert a constitutional authority to deploy troops in a manner contrary to an express limit imposed by Congress and adopted into law.”
If Congress votes down this resolution and the president acts contrary to their wishes, we consider this an impeachable offense.
Our belief is that America should only use military force when there is an attack on the country, when an eminent threat is posed or when American interests are at stake. Since these conditions are not met, we cannot condone sending young men and women to fight, and possibly die, for what is essentially a stalemate in a conflict in which no American interests are threatened.
Instead, we encourage Congress and the president to explore options outside of military intervention. For example, shutting down our $500 million in aid to Iraq unless they close air space between Iran and Syria could serve to begin to isolate Syria regionally. Continuing to explore Russia’s ability to collect Syrian chemical weapons could prevent further civilian attacks. And finding Christian allies and seeking ways to aid them could ultimately be helpful in ensuring that a stable rebel faction emerges to initiate lasting change in the country.
While these proposals are imperfect and other options remain, we advocate war only as a means of last resort.
In closing, we applaud left-leaning organizations like Code Pink and MoveOn.org who have remained consistently against such military actions regardless of the administration. Many of our members have a similar reluctance for war and have been principally opposed to such actions for many years. We hope the anti-war Democrats, who advocated so forcefully during the Bush Administration, will join us in this call for peace.”
Sincerely,
Buncombe County Young Republican Executive CommitteeJason Truesdale, Chairman
Lucas Armeña, Vice Chairman
Nathan West, Secretary
Josh Cates, Treasurer
Matthew Hoagland, Political Director
Timothy Elkin, Community Outreach Director
And I’m sure their stance is based solely on principle and not on sticking it to Obama.
“…we applaud left-leaning organizations like Code Pink and MoveOn.org who have remained consistently against such military actions regardless of the administration.”
Puh-lease.