Rand rips GOP ‘idiots’ over Syria

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that the GOP’s 2016 presidential field is full of “idiots” who back war in Syria.

“Shouldn’t we at least talk about what idiots we have in the Republican Party running for president who want to have a red line and a no-fly zone in Syria?” he asked during a daylong live stream of his campaign’s trek through Iowa.

{mosads}“What a recipe for disaster,” he said. “All of them are beating their chests to see who is the most likely to get us involved in a war [in Syria].

“These people have been at war for a thousand years,” the 2016 Republican White House hopeful added. “You think somehow we’re going to solve their problems?”

Paul then argued that the hawkish Republicans share many common traits with Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton.

“The interesting thing is [that] Hillary Clinton agrees with all of them,” he said of GOP candidates who favor military intervention in Syria.

Paul’s remarks come as Clinton and the other 2016 Democratic contenders prepare for their first televised debate Tuesday evening. Clinton is meeting four other candidates in the contest airing live from Las Vegas on CNN.

President Obama is facing pressure from critics to increase the American military role in Syria’s civil war.

Russia began conducting airstrikes there earlier this month on behalf of embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly reiterated he is supporting Assad’s government during the conflict.

Obama, in contrast, favors Syria’s moderate rebel factions fighting for independence there.

Multiple GOP presidential candidates worry the resulting refugee crisis is helping to spread global terrorism.

Paul, for his part, during his time on the 2016 campaign trail, has repeatedly called for a more isolationist foreign policy.