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Rand Paul concedes Obama is ‘probably going to win’ on Syria vote

WASHINGTON — One of President Obama’s fiercest adversaries conceded yesterday that Congress will likely green-light his request to hit Syria with punitive airstrikes, in what would be a major victory for the administration.

“You’re probably going to win,” Sen. Rand Paul told Secretary of State John Kerry as Paul grilled members of Obama’s war Cabinet in a Capitol Hill hearing.

The concession by the Kentucky Republican, who is close to Tea Party conservatives, came as top Democrats and GOPers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unveiled a newly drafted resolution authorizing military action against Syria.

It would allow 60 days of strikes, with the option for Obama to extend them for another month with congressional approval.

The new resolution clarifies that there will be no combat forces — or “boots on the ground” — deployed in Syria.

Still, ground troops could be used for rescues or extractions, a Senate aide said.

The resolution also requires the president to present Congress with a plan for a negotiated settlement within 30 days of receiving the authorization for military force, the aide added.

Congress is set to vote on the measure next week.

President Obama
President ObamaAP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said, “Together, we have pursued a course of action that gives the president the authority he needs to deploy force in response to the Assad regime’s criminal use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people, while assuring that the authorization is narrow and focused, limited in time.’’

Earlier in the day, House Speaker John Boehner emerged from a meeting with Obama to say he’s backing airstrikes to punish the Assad regime for poison-gas attacks that killed at least 1,429 people.

The United States has “enemies around the world that need to understand that we’re not going to tolerate this type of behavior,” Boehner said.

But Paul did not rule out a Senate filibuster on Syria.

“I haven’t made a decision,” he said.

Obama, facing the biggest vote of his presidency, had sent his top guns — Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey — to urge Paul and other members of the Foreign Relations Committee to back the resolution.

“This is not the time for armchair isolationism,” Kerry said. “This is not the time to be spectators to slaughter.”

But Paul challenged Kerry about whether Obama would honor Congress’ vote if lawmakers reject the resolution.

“I want to be proud of the president,” Paul said to Kerry. “But every time I’m just about there, I get word that really he doesn’t mean it, that he’s going to sort of obey the Constitution if he wins.”

As the exchange continued, Paul sharpened his tone.

“If you do not say explicitly that ‘we will abide by this vote,’ you’re making a joke of us,” Paul said. “You’re making us into theater . . . If this is real, you will abide by the verdict of Congress. ”

“I assure you there’s nothing meaningless, and there’s everything real,” Kerry responded, scratching his head in apparent disbelief at the line of questioning.

Despite Paul’s concession of apparent defeat, new public-opinion polls and head counts of Capitol Hill lawmakers indicated that the president still has a lot of work to do to convince the American public to support his plan.

An Ipsos/Reuters survey found that only 19 percent back military action, while 56 percent are opposed. A Pew Research Center poll showed 48 percent in favor and 28 percent opposed — and also found men are twice as likely as women to back military action.

Only 14 house members are in favor of strikes or leaning in favor, compared with 38 against strikes or leaning against, according to a “whip list” compiled by Web site The Hill.

Pelosi indicated her party’s concern over the outcome by sending each House Democrat a “dear colleague” letter yesterday that condemned “the Syrian government’s unspeakable use of chemical weapons.”