Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid compared the need for military strikes against Syria to U.S. involvement in World War II Monday, saying "America's willingness to stand for what is right should not end at its borders."
Reid said isolation isn't "what made America the greatest nation in years past," and mentioned the use of gas in Nazi death camps:
Look prior to World War I ... prior to World War II. Some prefer isolation. That's the easy thing to do. But sitting on the sideline isn't what made the United States of America the greatest nation in the world in years past and, yes, today. And sitting on the sidelines won't make us a better nation tomorrow.
As America faces yet another crisis of conscience, another opportunity to intervene on behalf of humanity, my mind returns to that turning point in the world's history when the United States faced down an evil regime that murdered millions of innocent citizens. Millions and millions of civilians and prisoners of war were murdered by poison gas in Nazi death camps. Treblinka, Auschwitz. Never again, swore the world. Never again would we permit the use of these poisonous weapons of war.
He also quoted from Dante's Inferno during his remarks, noting these words are on a wall in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” -- Dante's Inferno
Senator Harry Reid
@SenatorReid
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.†-- Dante's Inferno
Reid tweeted the Senate was expected to vote on Syria Wednesday, September 11, 2013, which is also Assad's 48th birthday.
The Senate will vote on Wednesday on the authorization for the use of force against Syria.
Senator Harry Reid
@SenatorReid
The Senate will vote on Wednesday on the authorization for the use of force against Syria.
Here's video of his remarks:
