Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on August 20 that the Pentagon has estimated it would take “over 75,000 troops” to secure Syria’s chemical weapons.
Meanwhile, the draft text of the resolution authorizing President Barack Obama to use force in Syria that is being taken up by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today prohibits the president from putting ground troops in Syria “for the purpose of combat operations”–but appears to leave open the possiblity that the president could put troops in Syria to secure chemical weapons.
“The authority granted in section 2 does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Syria for the purpose of combat operations,” says the text of the draft resolution.
However, Section 2 of the resolution gives the president the authority to use the Armed Forces in Syria “as he determines necessary and appropriate” for a limited set of purposes, including “to protect our allies and partners against the use of” weapons of mass destruction.
