Dem senator: Obama’s Syria move won’t work in ‘long-term’

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that she does not think President Obama’s decision to send special operations forces to Syria is a strategy that will work in the long run.

{mosads}Obama recently announced plans to send fewer than 50 special operations troops to Syria in an advisory role. 

“I don’t think it’s a strategy that will work long-term,” Gillibrand said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

She also noted that she is opposed to escalating military involvement and sending in more troops. Instead, she favors an increased focus on countering the humanitarian crisis, saying the United States could be taking in more refugees, as Germany is. 

“I think what we could be doing more of is dealing with the humanitarian crisis,” Gillibrand said. “I wish we were focused on how we could create relief for millions of families that are streaming out of Syria. I’ve seen our European partners really pick up the pace and take significant responsibility for these families. What Germany has done is outstanding. I think America should be doing more.”

Gillibrand said she thinks Obama needs a new congressional authorization for his actions in Syria as well. 

The New York senator has also been pushing for Congress to reauthorize a recently expired program providing health benefits to first responders to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

“I think it’s a moral outrage that we’re not standing by our first responders,” she said.