Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Sunday said he believes the Trump administration is “partially to blame” for prompting the Syrian regime to carry out chemical attacks against citizens last Tuesday.
“I think it was partially to blame,” McCain told CBS “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson when asked if the administration’s public statements encouraged the Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Senate Armed Services chairman said the administration’s recent comments — including from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — that the Syrian people should determine Assad’s fate likely played a role in the regime’s decision to attack its own people due to a lack of fear about foreign consequences.
McCain did express support for the administration’s missile strikes: “Taking this action I support and was important.”
McCain also said Tillerson’s earlier comment Sunday that the U.S. is focused on wiping out the Islamic State before stabilizing Syria is a flawed strategy.
“We believe that the first priority is the defeat of ISIS. That by defeating ISIS and removing their caliphate from their control, we’ve now eliminated at least — or minimized a particular threat not just to the United States, but to the whole stability in the region,” Tillerson told CBS “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson.
“And once the ISIS threat has been reduced or eliminated, I think we can turn our attention directly to stabilizing the situation in Syria. We’re hopeful that we can prevent a continuation of the civil war and that we can bring the parties to the table to begin the process of political discussions,” Tillerson added.
McCain was adamant that the U.S. can do both at the same time and that only by doing it that way, was a long-term fix possible.
