MSNBC Military Analyst General Barry McCaffrey criticized the EU and US for not putting ” significant resources into Jordan and Turkey to stabilize the populations in place” and wondered, “Why would we haul them all over the world as refugees, rather than supporting them in place?” on Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live.”
McCaffrey stated, “well, we’re not going to do safe areas inside Syria. That would require extensive coalition ground and air forces, not going to happen. But you know, at the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars, we were spending more than $10 billion a month fighting those conflicts. So, I think it’s a huge failure on the part of the European Union in particular, but the also United States to not focus on significant resources into Jordan and Turkey to stabilize the populations in place, where they can go back home when this cruel conflict is eventually over. Why would we haul them all over the world as refugees, rather than supporting them in place?”
Earlier, McCaffrey said that Russia’s and France’s air campaigns will “probably” have a impact against ISIS, but cautioned, “these aircraft are somewhat indiscriminate. You can’t use air power super effectively unless you’ve got people on the ground.” He added, “One wonders why we don’t put a significant amount of resources into stabilizing refugee populations inside Jordan and Turkey, instead of just focusing on the military dimension.”
(h/t Real Clear Politics)
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