Marco Rubio Calls for Regime Change in Syria

From his perch on the Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Thursday called for regime change in Syria. Taking to the pages of the Wall Street Journal, Rubio called for the U.S. to step up and lead an aggressive international campaign to hasten Bashar al-Assads departure from power.

Rubio weighed in on assorted international efforts concerning the Assad regime.

Several diplomatic actions are required immediately. Others, especially involving the Syrian opposition, should be incremental and seek to help anti-Assad forces get organized, Rubio wrote. One immediately required action is to abandon any wishful thinking that the efforts of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will help the situation, or that Russias conscience will finally be shocked straight. The U.S. should urge Mr. Annan to condemn Assad and resign his job as envoy so that Syrias regime and other governments can no longer hide behind the facade of his mediation efforts.

Diplomacy doesnt stand a chance in Syria unless the military balance tips against Assad, Rubio continued. With Iran and Hezbollah now directly involved in the conflict -- sending soldiers and weapons into Syria -- the U.S. must stop insisting that arming the opposition will only make the violence worse. The conflict is also attracting jihadis whose presence will only make an eventual reconciliation in Syria that much harder.

Rubio called on the U.S. to work with NATO and allies in the region in providing valuable aid in the form of food, medicine, communications equipment, intelligence and logistical support. The senator also called for military support to Assads opponents.

Our allies in this mission should take the main responsibility for arming and training the most capable and trustworthy rebels now, Rubio wrote. But the U.S. should make clear that we stand ready to step in and fill key gaps between the rebels military needs and our allies capabilities. Empowering and supporting Syrias opposition today will give us our best chance of influencing it tomorrow, to ensure that revenge killings are rare in a post-Assad Syria and that a new government follows a moderate foreign policy.