Diplomatic efforts to halt Syria's bloodshed have "failed" and the world must send military aid to rebels to stop further slaughter, US Senator John McCain said Tuesday at a refugee camp in Turkey. "Make no mistake: the situation in Syria is an armed conflict. This is a war," the Republican McCain said at a Syrian refugee camp in Hatay, Turkey near the Syrian border, referring to the year-long conflict between the forces of strongman President Bashar al-Assad and opponents to the regime.
"Diplomacy with Assad has failed, and it will continue to fail so long as Assad thinks he can defeat the opposition in Syria militarily," McCain said in a joint statement with independent Senator Joe Lieberman, who has long backed McCain's stance on Syria.
"And right now, using tanks and artillery and even attack helicopters, Assad has the upper hand on the battlefield." The two lawmakers visited the Syrian refugee camp Tuesday, the day regime forces were supposed to halt all violence as part of a cease-fire deal brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. The senators said their visit to Hatay was in no way related to that of Annan, who was at the camp on the same day.
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