Menendez: Failing to act against Assad sends dangerous message

(CBS News) The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to hear from Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday, as well as Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Kerry, Dempsey, and Hagel will outline the administration's case for authorizing the use of military force in Syria as the Senate begins debate on the issue.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told "CBS This Morning" Tuesday that he hopes to hear "the full case for the use of force [in Syria] and what that campaign will look like in broad terms, especially as it relates to the end result."

"If those two streams of information come before the committee," Menendez said, "I think that the committee will act to ultimately pursue the use of force in a resolution and then ultimately work its way through the floor of the Senate."

In terms of the desired end result, Menendez said the strikes should focus on undermining "Assad's ability to deliver chemical weapons against the civilian population." Doing so would require targeting Assad's air artillery, Menendez said, adding the U.S. must seek to undermine "his capacity to be able to wage a continuing war against those elements that want to achieve their own liberty."

The New Jersey senator addressed the concern around a Syrian retaliation, explaining, "I believe that ... there is clearly a bluster, certainly by the Syrians. The Iranians and Hezbollah could possibly strike against the neighbors in the region, including our ally, Israel."

Still, Menendez insists that failing to act would be more dangerous than dealing with the potential aftermath and retaliatory attacks on Israel or the United States. "I think that not acting has huge consequences," he emphasized, "It sends a message to the very same countries ... to North Korea ... [that] the world will largely stand by when you use [chemical or nuclear weapons]."