Rubio on Syria: ‘The days of being able to act with impunity are over’
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Thursday hailed the U.S. missile strike in Syria as a “tactical action” that will hurt President Bashar Assad’s ability to use chemical weapons.
“I would say to everybody, this is not just some symbolic measure. It is a strategic objective and when they appear to have dedicated the necessary resources to achieve a specific strategic objective — that’s the way you conduct these things,” Rubio said on CNN.
Rubio said President Trump decided to use deadly force in Syria’s civil war because he was “deeply impacted” by the images of Syrian civilians and children who died this week in a gas attack.
“Tonight’s actions show that the days of being able to act with impunity are over when it comes to Bashar al-Assad, and there is a president to ensure he does not have the capability or his capability is diminished and he’s held accountable.”
“It is an actual degrading of the capability of the Syrian regime to carry out further chemical attacks against innocent civilians. This will degrade their ability to launch those attacks from the air and I think it was an important step and hopefully part of a comprehensive strategy moving forward to bring to a close this chaos that is happening in Syria,” Rubio continued.
The lawmaker also blasted Russia’s support for Assad, stating that Moscow has “no standing to say anything” about the U.S. operations in the region.
“The Russians are there on the ground assisting Assad in the commission of these … war crimes. They should answer for that. They certainly have put themselves into harm’s way,” Rubio said.
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