Michael O'Brien of NBC News reported that the impending vote of Congress on military action against Syria placed the legacy of President Barack Obama on the line. Obama earlier asked lawmakers for authorization to launch limited bombing strikes on the country now engaged in a civil war. The conflict is between forces loyal to President Assad's government and those who want to topple it down. The US President has planned for a military intervention in Syria after the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad against his own people last August 21.
According to NBC, the signs point to a vote by Congress to authorize the strikes or not to happen on Wednesday. Whether Obama could get the minimum 60 votes in the Senate he needs to launch the strike remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the impending action against Syria sent US stocks falling to 2% two weeks ago. The effect on oil prices, however, was the opposite. Oil went up by 2%.
CNN, however, reported that this trend could be reversed once the US would begin to intervene. CNN cited the effect on the financial markets of US interference in Middle Eastern conflicts as the cause to the stock trend reversal. Chris Isidore of CNNMoney observed that from Operation Desert Storm to the Iraq war to the Libyan civil war, stocks fell and oil prices rose before or during the start of the conflict. The trend, however, would reverse once the US started to intervene, Isidore wrote.
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