Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) called out the Obama administration for not demonstrating leadership in Syria or in the Middle East overall on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, saying "there's a vacuum there, and when there's a vacuum, bad people fill it."
CANDY CROWLEY: The deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency said at a forum yesterday that al-Qaeda affiliated groups are gaining strength in Syria. They've grown in size, capability, and effectiveness. Does that change your argument, which has been very fierce, for more U.S. help to these rebels since now the most effective rebels appear to be al-Qaeda?
JOHN MCCAIN: Al-Qaeda is coming back throughout the Middle East region and North Africa. Look at what's happening in Iraq, an unraveling there. You can only judge this on the basis of the facts. The fact is there's no United States leadership in the Middle East. There's a vacuum there, and when there's a vacuum, bad people fill it, and that's what's happening all over the Middle East. Now, is Syria specific? Of course. Jihadists are flowing in from all over the Middle East, and by the way, from Europe as well.
CROWLEY: Isn't that a reason for us to stay out?
MCCAIN: Well, if you think that doing nothing, that the situation will improve, and no one that I know that knows Syria believes that, and I would argue that our failure to assist these people who are struggling for things we stand for and believe in has exacerbated this problem dramatically. This brings us a little bit to Russia. It's an unfair fight, Candy. It's an unfair fight.
McCain has long called for a U.S.-led no-fly zone in Syria and targeted airstrikes directed at Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad, and he and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) met with President Obama last week for a wide-ranging foreign policy discussion that covered possible new options in Syria. McCain's frustration over administration inaction there boiled over into a public dispute with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, The Daily Beast reports:
He publicly declared that he would hold up the renomination of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey after Dempsey refused to say which options for Syria he supports or doesn’t support, such as a no-fly zone or targeted air strikes.
On Friday, McCain told The Daily Beast he would offer Dempsey the chance to respond in writing to the questions the general refused to answer in the open hearing—a way to deescalate the feud between the two officials. McCain sent a letter Friday afternoon to Dempsey with Sen. Carl Levin with a list of questions on Syria and Afghanistan.