Analysts and lawmakers are heavily emphasizing the potential costs to American credibility should Congress decline to grant President Barack Obama authority to retaliate against what is widely considered to have been a mass chemical weapons attack against Syrian civilians.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had already on Tuesday stated bluntly that “a refusal to act would undermine the credibility of America’s other security commitments. The President yesterday starkly described the stakes as involving “America and Congress’ credibility.” Even critics of the President’s policies are emphasizing the dynamic:

But this leaves us with “What now?” however we got to this point. As I see it, we have two objectives. The first is an ample, measured and wise response to the specific problem, Assad’s use of chemical weapons. We must act not only for what he did but also to set an example for others. Second, we should seek to begin to repair the damage done to U.S. credibility among friend and foe alike, with best efforts to re-establish U.S. leadership in a collective response, no matter how provisional. The fact that we avoided doing so for so long makes this a difficult challenge.

The Chicago Sun Times was more explicit, insisting that inaction on Syria would be viewed by Iran as “a green light to go ahead with developing nuclear weapons.” The point echoes one made by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who declared this week that U.S. credibility on weapons of mass destruction would be eroded with both Iran and North Korea:

“Iran and North Korea are carefully watching our next move,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said during the House hearing Wednesday. “A refusal to act in Syria after the president has set such a clear red line will be seen as a green light by the Iranian regime, who will see that we don’t have the will to back up our words.” The administration’s credibility was already at risk, however, after its muted response to a series of small-scale chemical weapons attacks this spring in Syria that killed a few dozen people.

[Photo: RT / YouTube]