Carson claims to have ‘better’ sources on Syria than Obama

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says he has “better” sources on the civil war in Syria than the White House, following a widely criticized claim that China was involved in the ongoing chaos.

“I have several sources that I’ve gotten material from,” the retired surgeon told CNN in South Carolina on Friday

“I’m surprised that my material is better than theirs.”

{mosads}To back up his claim, Carson said that his campaign “will be releasing some material on that before the weekend is over.”

The White House “will have an opportunity to see the materials just as everybody else,” he insisted.

Carson’s insistence on the point follows his claim in Tuesday evening’s GOP presidential debate, which caused many national security experts to raise their eyebrows.

“It’s a very complex place,” Carson said during the debate. “You know, the Chinese are there, as well as the Russians, and you have all kinds of factions there.”

Earlier on Friday, Carson attempted to back up his claims, in a sign that the campaign fears a possible vulnerability. 

In a memo sent to reporters, his campaign pointed to a variety of research and news reports claiming that China has “longstanding and well-documented security ties to Syria, and has provided various military weapons and equipment that Syria is using in the current conflict.”

China has not deployed troops to the battlefield, the campaign clarified, while accusing media reports of taking the debate comments out of context.

“Dr. Carson’s claim that China is exerting its influence and has in the ongoing Syrian conflict is well-supported by evidence, even if it is not evidence commonly available to or easily accessible by journalists without the requisite language skills or knowledge about Chinese,” the campaign claimed.

Still, Carson’s defense appears unlikely to quell the criticism about his claim, which critics have pointed to as evidence that the acclaimed former neurosurgeon is in over his head on foreign policy.

“I have not seen any evidence of Chinese military involvement in Syria,” national security adviser Susan Rice told reporters on Thursday, in response to a question about Carson’s allegation. 

“What I think is he [Carson] doesn’t know much about” the conflict, added President Obama in an interview with ABC News.

Meanwhile, former CIA Director Michael Hayden seemed to offer a show of support to Carson on Friday amid the backlash.

“I think that he was trying to say that when we’re absent from the playing field, we leave a vacuum in which other powers may enter,” said Hayden.