Obama on Syria Intervention: Helping Britain in WWII Was Unpopular Too

Speaking at a news conference at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, President Barack Obama addressed the unpopularity of his proposal to intervene in the Syrian civil war. Asked about the level of pressure on Congress to vote against Syrian intervention, Obama said that any military action that is not self-defensive is unpopular. He cited America’s assistance to Great Britain prior to America entering World War II as an example of one such unpopular but necessary conflict in which America participated.

Obama said he understood why Congress was reluctant to support his call for intervention in Syria. “Ultimately you listen to your constituents,” he said, “but you’ve also got to make some decisions about what you believe is right for America.”

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“I’m not drawing an analogy to World War II, other than to say, you know, when London was getting bombed, it was profoundly unpopular both in Congress and around the country to help the British,” Obama asserted.

Obama also insisted that the 1999 intervention in Kosovo was also unpopular, but it was a necessary and important intervention.

Watch the clip below via CNN:

[Photo via screen grab ]

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