Kaine agrees with Haley: No political solution in Syria with Assad in power

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Sunday he agrees with United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley that there is not a “political solution to the civil war in Syria” if President Bashar Assad remains in power.

“I agree with Ambassador Haley that I don’t think there’s any political solution to the civil war in Syria that doesn’t mean that Assad moves aside, because he’s tearing up the country,” Kaine told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”  

Kaine said that the U.S. should help Syria with humanitarian aid, rather than prioritizing ousting Assad or entering into a war with Syria and possibly its allies. 

{mosads}“But instead of regime change, what we should focus on is humanitarian relief … But neither regime change nor a full-on, unauthorized war against Syria is what we should be doing,” Kaine said. 

Kaine said he supported President Trump’s decision last Thursday to launch a missile strike in Syria as a response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack against a northern Syrian town that took dozens of lives. 

“I’m a strong supporter that the U.S. should take action to protect humanitarian causes like the ban on use of chemical weapons. And so I voted for a limited strike in August of 2013 to do exactly the same thing. And a limited strike for that purpose, for the humanitarian purpose, is something I would likely support if there’s a plan,” Kaine continued.

Kaine urged that the White House seek congressional approval before taking further military action in the war-torn country.

“But where I differ from this administration, and I took the same position with respect to President Obama, we are a nation where you’re not supposed to initiate military action, start war, without a plan that’s presented to and approved by Congress,” Kaine told Todd. 

“Again, our system is we don’t want a president, any president, just being able to start a war or launch missiles whenever they want. There’s got to be Congressional approval.”