Obama pushing for congress approval of air strikes
奥巴马推动对叙利亚动武

The United States, holding what it says is overwhelming evidence of the Syrian government using chemical weapons against its own people, pushes on in its mission to launch a military strike.

President Barack Obama is hoping to obtain congressional approval. On Monday, he swung open the White House doors for the start of what will likely become a parade of lawmakers he's hoping to sway.

After declaring that he would seek approval from the U.S. congress before striking Syria, the U.S. President Barack Obama took the argument directly to two of his biggest foreign policy critics. Senator Lindsay Graham and the man he beat for the presidency in 2008, Senator John McCain, invited him to the White house for a private meeting.

Obama tried to convince them to support a strike to Syria, and perhaps more importantly, to tell them to convince the others in the congress to join them in supporting for an attack.

Both men have stated previously that they do support military action. But they say they want Obama to lay out more comprehensive responses that will weaken more the Assad government.

After the meeting, Graham said if the president can lay out a plan that does that, he will support the plan and try to convince other lawmakers to support the president.

Even with Graham and McCain’s support it won’t be easy for President Obama to get the votes he needs to pass the resolution supporting military action against Syria. Some members of both parties are firmly against any sort of action, saying the intelligence has not convinced them, or that it is simply not the rule that the U.S. uses the force against a country that poses no direct threat to the U.S..

On Tuesday U.S. Secretary of State, Defense, along with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will testify before congress, where they will answer lawmakers' questions directly. Congress is officially back in session next week, giving the president a limited window to make his case.