McConnell: Stabilize Syria, Refugee Crisis Ends

Senator Mitch McConnell visited with "The Greg Dunker Show" on WKYX and WNGO Tuesday morning, to discuss the latest events involving Syria and its refugees.

McConnell says the refugee crisis will stop only when Syrians don't feel the need to leave, so "safe zones" need to be set up inside that country, and that will require military force beyond what is currently in that area. He said it doesn't have to be U.S. troops alone that can get this done.

"I think after the mass casualty attack in Paris, the French are even more interested in this than President Obama, who has of course been sort of leading from behind, and trying to hope this whole thing will go away," McConnell said.

The Senator said there are already refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey, but they are not enough to handle the overflow. 

McConnell also said ISIL obviously has to be defeated, and while he acknowledged that Obama has said this, too, there doesn't seem to be a willingness to say what needs to be done. 

McConnell said, "I think it's pretty clear that air strikes alone are not going to do it. The French are engaged in air strikes, the British are willing to help, the Jordanians have participated in air strikes, we are participating in air strikes, but that's not going to get the job done. To defeat ISIL and solve the problem, they have to be defeated on the ground. It needs to be a ground force made up a multitude of different countries - hopefully the French, the British, ourselves, our Suni Arab allies, the Saudis, the Egyptians. But somebody's gotta lead, and if America doesn't lead, we know nothing happens."  

He said there are a few special operations forces on the ground already, but there has to be some kind of gameplan to finish the job.

McConnell added that nobody is suggesting the kind of troop deployment that was used in the war in Iraq, but only a multi-national force with NATO allies and Suni allies will work in stopping ISIL.

Regarding recent reports of videos threatening the United States, McConnell said ISIL is definitely a threat, and Al Qaeda is too, as those terrorist groups battle for attention.

McConnell said, "This is the principal threat of the 21st century, and without American leadership, things just continue to kind of level off."

Syria is very complicated, Senator McConnell said, noting that the Russian fighter jet that was shot down was nowhere near ISIL, but appeared to be in the part of the country where forces that oppose President Bashar al-Assad are present.

"So, it's very very complicated. I don't think we should be in a cooperative arrangements with the Russians and Iranians. I think we should just announce what we're going to do, and then do it. I don't think the Russians are gonna get in the way," McConnell said.