Bernie Sanders said Saturday that he opposes an U.S.-implemented no-fly zone in Syria, contrasting himself with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on the issue.
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Clinton, who said in 2012 when she was secretary of state that she would consider proposals to impose a no-fly zone, solidified her stance this week in favor of such a zone amid the renewed spotlight on a surging humanitarian crisis that since 2011 has caused millions of Syrians to flee the conflict in their country.
Kasich also sharply criticized President Barack Obama for what he said were years of inaction in the region that has allowed Assad to remain in power.
Clinton’s statement came at the same time as similar calls from GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina and other Republicans seeking to differentiate their foreign policy goals from Obama’s.
To prevent further escalation and suffering by civilians and refugees, the USA and its regional and West European allies need to establish sanctuary areas in Syria that are protected by ‘no-fly zones.’…
On Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed the extent of the new Russian no-fly zone in Syria when it announced that the US and Russia had begun discussions on how to “deconflict” their air operations there, led by the acting assistant secretary of defense for global security affairs, Elissa Slotkin. Gordon Humphrey, after getting his endorsement, Friday, October 2, 2015, in Concord, N.H.
Clinton’s stance puts her at odds with the Obama administration. There’s a notion, advanced by hawkish types in the United States, that Russian Federation is intervening in Syria because Obama left a leadership vacuum in Syria. Yet for all his grand gestures, the president didn’t quite rise above the pugilistic tone of the week, arguing Putin went into Syria “out of weakness” while he, Obama, was acting from a place of “strength”.
Moreover, Moscow has denied USA claims that civilians were killed in its first airstrikes against Islamic State forces.
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Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said Friday that such no-fly zones “make sense”.
