Connecticut Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal split their votes on legislation authorizing the U.S. military to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels fighting the so-called Islamic State, otherwise known as ISIS or ISIL.
Blumenthal supported the legislation. "Inaction against ISIL is unacceptable," he said in a statement. "This savage terrorist organization is a clear and urgent threat."
"Asking a minimally trained army to take on two barbaric foes at once seems unrealistic."
Sen. Chris Murphy
Meanwhile, Murphy continued his opposition of plans to arm and train Syrian rebels. He was one of 22 votes against the authorization.
"I simply don't believe an effective strategy to combat ISIL requires America to get more deeply involved in the Syrian civil war," said Murphy in his statement. He acknowledged that President Barack Obama laid out a "strong case" for the plan, but Murphy shared three reasons for his opposition.
First, the moderate Syrian rebels have shown a disturbing willingness to join forces with Islamic extremists like the Al Nusra Front, a wing of Al Qaeda, and it will be nearly impossible to stop the rebels we train from joining forces with groups that pose a real threat to the United States. Second, it will be hard to thread the needle of supporting a majority Shiite regime against Sunni extremists in Iraq while, at the same time, supporting a largely Sunni insurgency against a Shiite leader in Syria. Third, I believe we are too optimistic that the American trained rebels will target ISIL when their true enemy inside Syria is Basharal-Assad. Asking a minimally trained army to take on two barbaric foes at once seems unrealistic.
Earlier this week, Blumenthal questioned Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. After the hearing, Blumenthal told the Connecticut Mirror there is no guarantee "our so-called friends in Syria are actually on our side." At the time, he was still considering how he would vote on the legislation he eventually supported last night.
The measure passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Four of Connecticut's five representatives voted against it, with second district Congressman Joe Courtney voting in favor of it.
