Robert M. Gates, the last secretary of defense for President George W. Bush and the first secretary of defense for President Barack Obama, is urging Congress to back the administration on Syria – and says a defeat for the White House would have “dangerous consequences” for the U.S. around the world. . . .

“I strongly urge the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, to approve the president’s request for authorization to use force in Syria,” Gates said in a two-sentence statement provided to POLITICO.

“Whatever one’s views on current U.S. policy toward Syria, failure by Congress to approve the request would, in my view, have profoundly negative and dangerous consequences for the United States not just in the Middle East but around the world both now and in the future.”

Image: Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (photo: R. D. Ward/DoD)