Sarbanes, Bilirakis Ponder Syria Vote

The American public opinion is very clear regarding the possibility of a U.S. military intervention in Syria, with the majority of citizens against such a move and almost four out of ten in favor.

The percentage of Americans who believe that the U.S. interests are not threatened by the civil war in Syria is even higher. However, the American government has started a concerted campaign in order to convince citizens as well as members of Congress and leaderships of the allied countries of the necessity of the attack.

Two of the Greek-American Congressmen, Gus Bilirakis and John Sarbanes, have an attitude towards this issue which reflects the concerns of the American public opinion. Bilirakis, republican from the state of Florida, is clearly against the Obama plan for military intervention in Syria, while the democrat from the state of Maryland stated that he will take a stance after the talks that will be held in the U.S. House.

In a message to the citizens of his region, Bilirakis stressed, “I share your concerns about the possibility of an involvement of the U.S.A. in the civil war in Syria and this is why I will vote NO to Obama’s proposal which authorizes military action.”

The democratic congressman John Sarbanes, in his announcement on the Internet, referred to the tragedy of the attack and to the necessity of a strong, clear answer and stressed that he is looking forward to the talks which are about to take place in the House and stated that he agrees with President Obama on the exemplary punishment of the Assad regime, while he indicated the criteria which will lead him to his final decision.

His criteria concern the limited time of the attack, the downgrading of the Assad regime’s capacity to use chemical weapons in the future, and minimizing of the risk of a U.S. involvement in the wider military battle in the region.