Asked by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez whether the Obama administration would accept a Syrian use of force resolution that explicitly prohibited American boots on the ground, Secretary of State John Kerry gave a surprising answer: No.
Mr. Chairman, it would be preferable not to, not because there's any intention or any plan or any desire whatsoever to have boots on the ground, and I think the president will give you every assurance in the world, as am I, as does the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]. But in the event Syria imploded, for instance, or in the event that there was a threat of a chemical weapons cache falling into the hands of Al Nusra or someone else, and it was clearly in the interest of our allies, and all of us, the British, the French, and others, to prevent those weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of the worst elements, I don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to the President of the United States to secure our country.
So in the midst of promising no boots on the ground ... Kerry says he doesn't want to take the option off the table. Yes, it's true that the Kerry's hypothetical scenario—the implosion of the Assad regime—was actually a different scenario than one that would be involved in a limited attack, but still, that's a big "Whoops."
Menendez, realizing that Kerry had slipped, gave him a second chance to the answer the question, and this time, Kerry backtracked.
I'm absolutely confident, Mr. Chairman, that it is easy—not that complicated—to work out language that will satisfy the Congress and the American people that there's no door open here through which someone can march in ways that Congress doesn't want it to, while still protecting the national security interests of the country. I'm confident that can be worked out. The bottom line is the president has no intention, and will not, and we don't want to, put American troops on the ground to fight this, or to be involved in the fighting of this civil war. Period.
So why didn't he save himself some trouble and say that the first time around? Well, in an answer to Tennessee Senator Bob Corker later in the session, Kerry said that he was "thinking out loud." Well, if that's what that was, then he picked a rather inopportune time to do so.