Courtney says he's skeptical of U.S. intervention in Syria

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney told a couple dozen people at a public forum on Syria on Tuesday that he would not vote for an Obama-administration proposed resolution authorizing the use of force. “I find it unacceptable,” Courtney said. Courtney said the wording of the resolution did not provide a time limit for U.S. involvement or limit the use of U.S. ground forces. The 2nd District Democrat did not rule out supporting a different resolution authorizing U.S. intervention in Syria, but said the administration needed to answer more questions first. “I am willing to listen to more information, but at this point I’m approaching it with skepticism,” Courtney said.

About 30 people attended the forum Tuesday morning at Courtney’s Norwich office. More than half of them appeared to be veterans. Speaker after speaker told Courtney they believed intervening to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons would be a mistake. At one point, retired Army Maj. Dominic Cortese asked for a show of hands for those in favor or opposed to U.S. military intervention in Syria. The vote was unanimous not to intervene. “I think that the strike shouldn’t be made,” Cortese said. “No more deaths,” Phyllis Lawrence said.