Plan Ahead For Syria Transition, U.S. Sen. Rubio Says; Ensure That New Leadership Is Well Armed [View all]
JERUSALEM | Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:59pm EST
(Reuters) - The United States must ensure that a new Syrian leadership is well armed and can run the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
The Florida Republican, who is seen as a rising star on the right flank of his party, and who gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, spoke about Syria and Iraq during a visit to Israel.
"Our hope is to continue to ... (identify) responsible actors that will be responsible not just in this conflict but in the aftermath of this conflict and empower them so that they will become the best-organized, the best-funded, the best-armed, the best-equipped and the most capable post-Assad force on the ground in Syria," Rubio, 41, told a news conference.
He added that there should not be a repeat of the situation in Libya where rival militias wreaked havoc because no single force had been supported to take control after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/21/us-syria-crisis-rubio-idUSBRE91K1E520130221
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