This morning, Greg Sargent, of the Washington Post's Plum Line blog, reported that Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13) intends to introduce her own resolution offering a non-military alternative to address the situation in Syria and has been building support among her colleagues for such a proposal.
Salon's Joan Walsh has an interview up with Lee about her proposal.
Here is the text of the letter Lee has been circulating. A more formal version of it (with all of the "Whereas" clauses that adorn congressional resolutions) can be found in a hyperlink in Sargent's piece.
Dear Colleague:
I write to urge your support for my proposal which lays out non-military options the United States can pursue, in partnership with the international community, that is consistent with law and would hold perpetrators accountable for heinous crimes against humanity.
While I believe the Assad regime must be held accountable, I reject that it has to mean a military response to be effective. There is no military solution to this complex civil war, and while a negotiated settlement is necessary, I do not believe military action will further that goal.
Instead of pursuing military force, United States policy should focus on working with the United Nations and the international community on an enhanced diplomatic strategy to facilitate a negotiated political settlement and hold the Assad regime, and all responsible parties, accountable for human rights violations. My Resolution lays out options such as:
1) requiring the Government of Syria to allow unfettered access to humanitarian organizations;
2) pressuring all internal and external parties to participate urgently and constructively in the Geneva process and other negotiations and regional arrangements with the League of Arab States and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation;
3) seeking to strengthen and coordinate multilateral sanctions targeted against the assets of Assad;
4) investigating and prosecuting crimes against humanity and other crimes under international law, including appropriately-timed International Criminal Court referral;
5) working with member states of the Chemical Weapons Convention;
6) working with the international community to establish a Syrian war crimes tribunal; and
7) enabling United States courts to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity and other crimes under international law committed in Syria.
We must recognize that we do have alternatives to the use of force and we should be vigorously pursuing them. I urge you in joining me to support non-military means to hold the perpetrators accountable and bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
Please direct requests to cosponsor or questions to _______.
Sincerely,
BARBARA LEE
Yet again, Barbara Lee proves herself to be a true progressive, a leader, and one of the House's most indispensable members.