The freshman senator from New Mexico has become yet another member of Congress to back away from seemingly supportive statements on military action in Syria as the vote approaches this week.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM)’s spokeswoman said in an email on Monday that he is “undecided” at this point, but a statement released last week seemed generally supportive of a strike in Syria.
Though he initially said the draft resolution submitted by Obama was “overly broad and open-ended,” he also said “I welcome the new draft resolution written by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee leadership to ensure any military action taken is both limited in scope and duration, and prevents the use of any U.S. ground forces inside Syria.”
“I have reviewed a substantial amount of intelligence and it is clear that President Assad’s regime used chemical weapons on a broad scale against civilian non-combatants — even children,” Heinrich said, according to the Sept. 4 statement. “Assad has willfully committed war crimes against his own people. This is unacceptable and in direct conflict with the United Nations Charter, Geneva Conventions, and other legal obligations prohibiting the use of chemical weapons.”
“We must hold the Assad regime accountable for the use of chemical weapons while ensuring the United States does not get involved in a protracted conflict,” Heinrich said last week. “I welcome the steps taken in this draft resolution to do so, and I look forward to reviewing the resolution further before voting on it next week.”
