WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, released the following statement this afternoon regarding Russian involvement in Syria:

“Recent news reports regarding Russia’s bombing of CIA-trained rebels in Syria are deeply disturbing, particularly because they come on the heels of President Obama’s meeting earlier this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It seems fair to suggest that the White House has fundamentally misread both Russia’s imperialist intentions and events on the ground in the Middle East. 

“After almost a year of the president’s effort to train and arm Syrian rebels, which is the lynchpin of his approach to resolving the conflict in that nation, our top commander in the region testified that only four or five fighters remained on the battlefield. 

“After four years of conflict, and with the negotiated resolution advocated by the president appearing less likely than ever, thousands of refugees have arrived on European shores.

“And, after the president declared his willingness to work with the patrons of Assad’s genocide – Russia and Iran – Russia has now deployed troops to Syria and is conducting airstrikes to prop up its man in Damascus.

“Make no mistake – these events portend darker days to come in Syria. Russia’s actions, as Secretary of Defense Ash Carter rightly put it, pour gasoline on the fire. The violence will only escalate, as will the flow of foreign terrorists into the country and refugees out of it. 

“Moreover, Putin’s rebuff of the White House’s entreaties for cooperation provides further evidence that our Syria policy is in tatters and our credibility on the world stage has dwindled to record lows.

“What’s more, all of these events were predictable. It’s greatly concerning that the administration is continuously caught off guard and publicly expresses confusion over obvious consequences and foreseeable occurrences.

“Once again, I call on the president to outline in detail his strategy moving forward. Is train and equip still our focus? Must Assad still go? Time is not limitless. While the American people continue to wait for these answers, others are filling the leadership vacuum.”

Last month, CBS Evening News reported on Fischer’s questions to the commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Lloyd Austin III., who revealed a scaled-back presence of only “four or five” trained Syrian rebels in the area. The administration had hoped to train a few thousand rebels within the year. 

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