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GOP candidate: Syrian war 'could be over' if Obama had given greater support to terrorists

Republican US presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich

Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich has slammed the Obama administration for not providing enough support to the terrorists wreaking havoc in Syria.

In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Ohio Governor Kasich suggested the current surge of Syrian refugees into Europe could have been avoided if President Barack Obama had given greater support to foreign-sponsored militants fighting against the Syrian people and government.

"We should have been supporting the Syrian rebels [sic] years ago," Kasich said.

"I pitched [House Speaker John] Boehner and [Senator John] McCain on it, the administration ignored it. And the simple fact of the matter is we should have been supporting the opposition to [Syrian President Bashar] Assad. This thing could be over by now,” he added.

President Barack Obama signed legislation last year to train and equip militants fighting in Syria and Congress approved $500 million for the program. The Pentagon has so far trained dozens of so-called moderate militants and sent them to Syria.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011. The United States and its allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

According to the United Nations, more than 320,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced due to the violence.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Kasich urged the United States to accept more Syrian refugees, but added that "this is fundamentally an issue that Europe has to come to grips with."

"We can provide some humanitarian aid to them," he added.

 Kasich has been struggling with his presidential campaign. But a new poll released on Sunday showed him in second place in the Republican presidential field in New Hampshire, trailing behind Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner for the party’s nomination.  

"We don't run a race for president based on national polls," Kasich said, downplaying his poor performance in recent national polls. "We go state by state."

 


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