Sen. McConnell Opposes Syrian Strike

Does not see vital national security risk

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., broke from congressional leadership and announced Tuesday that he will oppose a resolution to authorize a military strike against Syria.

"A vital national security risk is clearly not at play, there are just too many unanswered questions about our long-term strategy in Syria, including the fact that this proposal is utterly detached from a wider strategy to end the civil war there, and on the specific question of deterring the use of chemical weapons, the president's proposal appears to be based on a contradiction," McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

McConnell is the first congressional leader to oppose President Obama's proposal to launch military strikes against Syria following the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad against his own people.