Syria has crossed the line in its purported use of deadly chemical weapons in its ongoing civil war — but what the United States should do about it isn't clear, former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint says.
"It appears that the red line has been crossed,'' DeMint, president of the Heritage Foundation, told Newsmax TV.
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"It’s hard to determine what to do at this point since the administration has not led from the beginning.
"That has created more instability and invited other countries such as Iran to get involved with this conflict.''
DeMint said one of the chief goals of the United States regarding its handling of the Syria conflict has to be the safeguarding of Israel.
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"We need to make sure that we make it clear as a country that we’re going to defend Israel, from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah — we’ve got to protect our allies," he said.
In addition, the U.S. must create "safe zones,'' to allow innocent Syrians "to get out of the line of fire.''
But he said the administration has not done enough.
"I don’t know much else we can do now that the president has allowed the situation to deteriorate so far,'' DeMint said.
The U.S. and jointly Russia announced Tuesday they spearhead an international conference in a bid at ending Syria's fierce civil war.
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