On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Senator and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine (D-VA) argued, “this administration has to bluntly, vigorously, continuously call out the atrocities of Bashar al-Assad…I think the administration’s decision to try to cozy up to Russia means that they’re not willing to call a humanitarian war crime exactly what it is.”
Kaine said, “First, this administration has to bluntly, vigorously, continuously call out the atrocities of Bashar al-Assad, which are helped in immeasurable ways by the Russians and the Iranians. And I think the administration’s decision to try to cozy up to Russia means that they’re not willing to call a humanitarian war crime exactly what it is. We’ve seen this a couple of times from the administration. Second, the reason for the humanitarian safe zone was because the UN called for cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid in February of 2014. But the world community has done nothing, nothing to enforce that. And you can’t have a statement of principle from the international world on something like this, and do nothing to enforce it. And so, while it’s gotten more complicated because of the entrance of the Russians and the Turkish-Kurdish dispute on the border, we should still try to provide a place in Syria where people can stay in their own country, which they want to do, safe from the atrocities of Bashar al-Assad or ISIS.”
He further pointed to his vote in 2013 to use military action against Assad, and stated, “I would start with the proposition of providing humanitarian aid, and then if anybody tried to screw around with our efforts to provide humanitarian aid, there would have to be a military effort to protect our right to follow that UN Security Council resolution.”
(h/t Grabien)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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