Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg says Syria’s future is “being decided by everybody” but the United States, lamenting that “American leadership has been withdrawn.”
In an interview aired Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” the mayor of South Bend, Ind., said what America needs to do is to “promote stability” and “stand by our allies.”
“But right now what is happening is the future over there is being decided by everybody but the United States — Russia, Iran, Turkey — and we are nowhere because American leadership has been withdrawn,” he said.
Buttigieg added that Turkey is “not behaving in a way that is consistent with stability, and I think if they continue to behave in this way, there have to be consequences.”
“Right now what we have got to do is engage Turkey as an ally,” he said. “You know, I served alongside Turkish troops in Afghanistan. That alliance is important and it’s leverage for us to make sure that we use our influence to prevent bad outcomes like the one that [President] Donald Trump green lighted that they’re doing right now. If they don’t act like an ally in the long run, that is going to have consequences.”
According to Buttigieg, the middle east “will be messy for probably as long as I’m alive.”
“There are some problems that you can solve. And there are some problems you just have to manage,” he said. “But completely withdrawing from that – from the rest of the world, withdrawing American leadership… that is not the way to end endless war. The way to do it is to stay ahead of these problems, to engage our allies, and to lead an international community to promote stability and peace.”
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