Republican strategist Karl Rove, who helped orchestrate the political salesmanship of two wars for former President George W. Bush, said Sunday that the Obama administration's handling of proposed military action in Syria has been an "unmitigated disaster."
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In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Rove criticized President Obama for belatedly seeking congressional authorization of a proposed strike, saying it allowed the momentum behind action to wane.
"Look, I support the president's action," Rove explained. "Earlier on, I made it clear, whether it helped him or hurt him, that I thought he was doing the right thing. And I thought that he needed to take it to Congress."
"But in retrospect, that was a mistake," Rove said. "Because he got right up to the edge and then on Friday...pulls back and heads off to the [G-20 global economic summit.] The energy behind it dissipated. The president probably should have been better to take an action."
"We now have the Syrians with God knows how many days or weeks, if the United States does take action, to disperse all of these units, to, you know, protect themselves as much as possible, build human shields," Rove said.
"This is an unmitigated disaster," he concluded. "It's an amateur hour at the White House."
The Obama administration, brandishing evidence that the Syrian government under President Bashar Assad killed almost 1,500 people in an August 21 chemical weapons attack, is pushing Congress to support a resolution authorizing military action in Syria.
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After initially signaling that it would proceed without congressional authorization, the administration reversed course on August 31 with Mr. Obama's announcement that he would ask Congress to vote on the proposed military action.
The administration has reserved the right to act in the absence of congressional approval, but Mr. Obama has said he believes the U.S. will be "stronger" if the people's elected representatives sign off on any military action.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday narrowly approved a draft resolution authorizing the use of force in Syria. That legislation is headed to the floor of the Senate, where it could see a vote on final passage as early as next week. From there, the debate will proceed to the House of Representatives.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has predicted the upper chamber will ultimately approve the resolution, despite the abundant opposition among members of both parties. In the House, the outcome of a vote is far more uncertain. Despite endorsements from both House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., far more representatives have signaled opposition than support for the proposed military action.
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