On Monday, both houses of Congress will begin to decide whether to give President Barack Obama authorization to order a military strike against the Syrian government.
An authorization of force is expected to prevail in the Democratically-controlled Senate, with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) leading the charge. But the House of Representatives is expected to be much more of a challenge for Obama, with representatives across the political spectrum opposing intervention of any kind.
Republican Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional district has come out against intervention, saying he would file articles of impeachment “if any young American is sent to a country over in the Middle East without the Congress voting yes or no.”
Jones’ district is one of the biggest areas in the nation for military retirees, and he says that calls to his office are overwhelmingly against American military intervention in Syria.
You may remember Jones from the era of “freedom fries”–he lobbied for the name change in the Congressional cafeteria back in 2003 when France opposed intervention in Iraq. Jones voted in support of military intervention in Iraq, which he now regrets. Congressman Jones joins us to discuss why his feelings changed on Iraq, and what that means for Syria.
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