President Donald Trump "sent a strong signal" to Syria by ordering Tomahawk strikes, and it could end up changing the course of the country's civil war, Rep. Ted Yoho said Tuesday, but he insisted Trump get congressional approval before taking further action.
"Let's hope as a world community that this brings that to an end, where they pivot and make changes in Syria," the Florida Republican told CNN "New Day" co-anchor Alisyn Camerota. "Something had to be done. Are we going to sit here and watch another Auschwitz, with millions of people getting killed, as the world stood by? This is something we have to bring to an end."
More than 480,000 Syrians have been killed during the civil war over the past six years, whether at the hands of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, or rebels, or the Islamic State, or coalition forces, Yoho said, while "the world sat by idly."
"You saw a lot of rhetoric but no action," said Yoho, calling Trump's call for airstrikes a "very decisive action."
Last week's airstrikes, while not taking out the Syrian airfield, sent a message through pinpointed targeting, Yoho said.
"We could do more damage if needed," he said. "Hopefully we don't have to and Assad got the message. Let's bring the civil war to an end."
However, while Yoho supports the strikes now, he opposed military action in 2013, when former President Barack Obama sought congressional authorization, pointed out Camerota.
At that time, Yoho commented that it "it is neither the role of the united States federal government to do so nor the responsibility of American taxpayer to fund such an unconstitutional act," and that even by engaging in military aid, "we're engaging in an act of war against a sovereign nation."
Yoho said he still feels the same about congressional authorization, but some things have changed.
"You've got 480,000 people that have been killed," Yoho said. "When we sat down with Denis McDonough, chief of staff with President Obama, they had an open-end policy. They wanted to do no-fly zones like we did in Libya that led to failed state where ISIS is recruiting and training in Libya, one of the worst areas on the planet for ISIS recruitment."
McDonough, also, had reported that the intervention could take up to 10 years and cost more than $1 billion a month, Yoho said.
"What President Trump did was an immediate attack," he said. "What we did was I feel right at the verge of an act of war. We attacked a sovereign nation. So for him to go any further, he's got to come to Congress. We have to talk about this. I'm not willing to commit American taxpayers money anymore or American troops on the ground in another Middle Eastern country. All we have to do is look at Afghanistan and Iraq. I don't want to go down that path."
He also called on the world community to become involved, as the influx of refugees is affecting more than the United States.
"Where is the rest of the world community?" Yoho said. "Where is Europe? Where is the EU? Where is Germany? I think we need to have that discussion before we go further and commit America any more."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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