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Which side of the Syrian conflict deserves American support is far from clear with Iran-backed Syria on one side and Al Qaeda militias on the other, said Florida's Republican Rep. Tom Rooney Sunday on Weekends with Alex Witt.
“I differ a little bit with some people on my side of the aisle when it comes to what our involvement should be in Syria…it’s trying to side with the least bad option, I’m not sure what that is at this point,” said Rooney, who sits on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees.
The Florida Congressman is critical of President Obama’s “red line” rhetoric but agreed with the president’s stance that deploying U.S. troops to Syria should not be seriously considered.
“It [sending American troops] would obviously have to be something that would directly affect our national security and that might have something to do with Israel and our allies so people that are sort of armchair quarterbacking the president at this point, I think that they do not have all the information,” he said.
Instead, Rooney said the U.S. should work with Israel as an ally and attempt leveraging Russian support to stem the conflict. This week’s Israeli airstrikes follow Hezbollah’s Tuesday announcement that its militia is prepared to aid the Assad government in the civil war that has left between 70,000 and 80,00 dead and over one million displaced.