During the Fox Business GOP debate last night, frontrunner Donald Trump detailed his opposition to any U.S. intervention in Syria. Trump said “we cannot keep being the policeman of the world,” and then rattled off a bunch of domestic priorities such as the debt and failing infrastructure.
This brought a strong objection from Jeb Bush, who said the U.S. didn’t have to be the policeman of the world but that America must be the world’s leader. Bush mocked the idea of Russian involvement in Syria, calling it “a board game.”
Bush then reiterated his earlier call for a no fly zone and started talking about Christian persecution in Iraq and Syria. Then he said something incredibly gaffe-worthy: “If you’re a moderate Islamist, you’re not going to be able to survive either.” This effectively compared the plight of Christians in Syria to those who want to bring about Sharia law at a slightly slower pace than ISIS.
Trump pounced on Jeb, pointing out that, while Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is a bad guy, the rebels may be “far worse than Assad.”
What we do know is that many of the Syrian rebels have ties to al Qaeda. The U.S.-supplied rebel factions have handed over weapons to al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. Other units of the Free Syrian Army have joined ISIS.
Finally, who are these “moderate Islamists” that Jeb is talking about? Does he mean the Muslim Brotherhood? Among the offshoots of that organization are the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Brotherhood is one of the most powerful organizations in the anti-Assad alliance. It wants to restore the Islamic caliphate and make Sharia law the basis of society.
AP
