Marco Rubio Takes Aim at Obama's Handling of Syria

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who sits on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Foreign Relations Committee, offered his thoughts on Syria on Friday, ripping into President Barack Obamas handling of the Middle Eastern country and calling for its leader to step down.

In April, after the Obama administration admitted that the regime of Bashar al-Assad had likely used chemical weapons, I called upon the president to clearly state how he intended to respond to this violation of his own stated red line, Rubio said. Months later, the administrations Syria policy is no clearer than it was then. Instead, weve wasted more time chasing the fantasy of a negotiated settlement involving Russia. This has only given the Assad regime more time to make military gains and resulted in the deaths of more innocent civilians.

It is in Americas interest for Assad to be removed from power and for Syria to be put on a path toward stability, Rubio added. The longer we continue to outsource this problem to other actors, the more the country will fragment, spreading instability, violence, and chaos to its neighbors, with implications for U.S. national security for decades to come.We are now witnessing in Syria what a world without decisive American leadership looks like. There is no more time for half measures. I again call on the president to explain what he will do to respond to this humanitarian and national security nightmare.