News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Texas Senator Cornyn Opposes Airstrike On Syria, Calling It 'Reckless'

Reaction from lawmakers – from Texas and elsewhere -- continues to pour in following last night’s presidential address to the nation about Syria.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said that a U.S. attack that allows Syrian President Bashar Assad to remain in power wouldn’t promote U.S. national security interests. Cornyn calls a strike "reckless" and "ill-advised."

“[President Obama’s] failed to make the case that a short, limited military campaign would promote our vital interests and our national security,” Cornyn said in a speech today on the Senate floor. “He's failed to lay out clear and realistic objectives that could be attained through the use of that military force. And he's failed to offer a compelling description of how his proposed intervention would advance America's broader foreign policy strategy - indeed, how it would advance his own policy of regime change.”

Texas’ other Republican senator, Ted Cruz, wrote in The Washington Post earlier this weekthat he doesn’t believe that a “limited airstrike, as proposed by the president, will lead to success or improve conditions in Syria.”

In case you’ve fallen behind on Syria news, here’s a primer from The Post: Cheatsheet: What You Need To Know About Syria

And here are other links to today’s coverage from NPR and elsewhere:

Watch Obama's address from Tuesday night:

Watch Cornyn's address from today:

Eric Aasen is KERA’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to KERA radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.