About 500 members of the Lehigh Valley Syrian community took the trip to join protests in front of the White House in opposition to President Barack Obama's plan to respond with force to the use of poison gas during the Syrian civil war.
Hweida Attieh traveled some 200 miles by bus this morning to Washington, D.C., from Allentown for a one cause: peace.
The Whitehall Township resident along with about 500 members of the Lehigh Valley Syrian-American community joined protests in opposition to President Barack Obama's call for military strikes on the Middle Eastern nation.
Attieh labeled as untrue claims that President Bashar Assad's regime used chemical weapons during Syria's civil war. If Congress authorizes a strike, it won't stop there, she said; it will escalate into a bigger war."The USA doesn't need to put us under another war," Attieh said in a phone interview from outside the U.S. Capitol.
"There is enough damage in my country," Attieh continued. "I hope to God they listen to us."
Today's protests came as Congress returned following a break and ahead of an address Obama plans Tuesday night to the nation. The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on authorizing military action, and a vote would follow in the House of Representatives.
A vigorous debate has been shaping up. U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, for instance, introduced a bill today to appeal the 1973 War Powers Resolution ahead of this week's expected votes.
“The use of military force against a sovereign nation is an act of war," Garrett, a Republican whose 5th Congressional District covers part of Warren County, said in a statement.
"Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution explicitly grants Congress the
sole power to declare war.
"Unfortunately, since its passage in 1973, the War Powers Resolution has been stripped of its original purpose and has instead served as a temporary, de facto authorization for the executive branch to use military force whenever it deems it necessary."
‘Pathological liar’
Advocates for a strike include U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who responded to a CBS interview with Assad by calling the Syrian leader “a pathological liar.”
In the interview with Charlie Rose on "CBS This Morning," Assad denied responsibility for the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb that killed 1,429 people. He further accused the Obama administration of spreading lies without providing a "single shred of evidence" and warned that air strikes against his nation could bring retaliation.
“I think he will say anything in order to avoid the attack,” Menendez, D-N.J., said after an event on the Rutgers University campus, The Star-Ledger reported. “I don’t know war criminals who come forward and say, ‘Yes, I committed the act.’”
Participants in today's demonstrations hailed from the Lehigh Valley, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Florida and Chicago. They began about 9 a.m. at the White House then marched to the Capitol, said the Rev. Afaf Atiyeh Darcy.Picketers also planned to meet with U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Republican whose 15th Congressional District covers Lehigh and part of Northampton counties, and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
Dent outlined his opposition to action -- saying it should have come years earlier -- in an op-ed in Sunday's Express-Times. Toomey has said he had yet to make a decision on the proposed action.
Darcy said she also secured 150 passes for some group members to observe Senate and Congressional hearings today.
Assad ‘wants peace’
In a surprise move, Russia promised today to push its ally Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control then dismantle them quickly to avert U.S. strikes.
The announcement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came a few hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding his forces' alleged use of chemical weapons by surrendering control of “every single bit” of his arsenal to the international community by the end of the week.
Allentown resident Nasser Sabbagh also made his way to D.C. to send a simple message to Obama and his administration: "We want peace, we don't want war."
Assad, he said, "wants peace like everybody else."
Sabbagh said he hopes both parties can reach a peaceful resolution.
"We don't need any more wars," he said. "Americans have had enough wars and we've had enough wars."