Sen. John McCain told a crowded Burton Barr Central Library Thursday that the government is not considering sending American soldiers to intervene in Syria as the debate over involvement in the Middle Eastern country continues.
“I want to begin by saying to you that I am unalterably opposed to having a single American boot on the ground,” McCain said. “The American people wouldn’t stand for it. … My effort is not to put a single American life in danger.”
The White House has stated that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people, allegedly killing more than 1,000 people including several hundred children. This intelligence has led President Barack Obama to seek Congress’ approval of military intervention in the conflict.
Members of the crowd in downtown Phoenix of more than 100 yelled back at McCain throughout the meeting, occasionally prompting the Republican senator to remind those present to not shout and to respect other people’s opinions.
McCain said President Barack Obama lost international credibility when the president promised to initiate a response to the chemical weapons attacks but later chose to seek Congress’s approval before taking action.
“We sent them to be the voice of the people and I think we spoke pretty loudly today that we do not want to be engaged into another war,” Valley resident Anna Brennan said.
Brennan added that she does not believe McCain’s claims that the government will keep American soldiers out of Syria.
“When has a politician ever kept their promise?” Brennan said.
Valley resident Rana Ghazoul said she attended the meeting to tell McCain “we don’t want war.”
“I am Syrian-American, and for the sake of Syrians, we don’t really need a war,” Ghazoul said. “This is a Syrian issue. They can fight it there.”
ASU biochemistry sophomore Zana Alattar founded Save our Syrian Freedom, a humanitarian club at ASU, and said she has family that fled Syria as refugees, family that has been killed by the Syrian government and family that is still living in Syria that she has not been able to contact for several months.
“The Syrian people, from what I’ve heard, do want the chance to be able to overcome the regime with the help of America,” Alattar said. “The Syrian people have just been suffering day in and day out for the last two and a half years and nothing the U.S. would do is worse than what’s already been done by (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s) regime.”
Alattar said McCain was knowledgeable, but many of the people at the town hall meeting seemed uninformed about the history of conflict in Syria. Alattar noted that some were more concerned about the how U.S. involvement would affect the American economy.
Navy veteran Christopher Henke said to McCain that the country’s debt is high enough without the expenses of another foreign conflict.
“I would much rather use our taxpayers’ money to take care of our vets that are coming home from the two conflicts we’ve already (been in),” Henke said in the meeting. “Why are we not taking care of our own people?”
McCain said he appreciated Henke’s service and opinion, but said he did not think he needed to be lectured about veterans.
McCain said he understood attendees’ concerns about the U.S. getting involved in another conflict, but countered with the evidence that Assad used chemical weapons.
“I question a lot of things, but I guarantee you there will be convincing information that is already there, which will be coming out,” McCain said. “There is already conclusive evidence that he has used it in the past as many as 10 to 30 times. There is no doubt about that.”
McCain said unless the U.S. acts in some fashion, it will open to door for Assad and the leaders of other countries to use chemical and nuclear weapons.
One attendee asked McCain about countries allied with Syria. McCain responded that Iran and Russia are Syria’s main allies, but that they would not retaliate if the U.S. attacked Syria. Many attendees laughed at McCain’s assessment.
“The fact is that they have not and they will not,” McCain said. “If we do nothing, then we will encourage them, dramatically, to continue with the attacks they have been doing.”
Downtown Devil reporter Brandon Kutzler contributed to this report.
Contact the reporter at kimberly.koerth@asu.edu
