US senators slam Obama’s Syria strategy as Russia steps up role

US senators are urging President Barack Obama to clarify his strategy on Syria as Russia has stepped up its involvement to resolve the four-year crisis.

“Once again, I call on the president to outline in detail his strategy moving forward. Is train-and-equip still our focus? Must Assad still go?" said Senator Deb Fischer, Republican of Nebraska and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“While the American people continue to wait for these answers, others are filling the leadership vacuum,” she was quoted as saying by The Hill on Friday.

Russia launched its air campaign against Daesh (ISIL) terrorists in Syria on Wednesday. The airstrikes began hours after a warning that the US must take its warplanes out of Syria.

Russia’s move followed weeks of military buildup in Syria, raising concerns in Washington that Moscow is seeking a military outpost in the Arab country to shore up the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he requested Secretary of State John Kerry to testify to Congress about the administration’s Syria strategy.

Rep. Ed Royce of California called on the White House to actively work with Congress to develop an effective strategy for Syria.

“The costs of continued failure are far too high,” added Royce, who is the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Obama ordered the US military to launch airstrikes in Syria last September purportedly to defeat the ISIL Takfiri group.

The Obama administration has also been relying on “moderate” militants, trained and armed by the CIA and Pentagon, as a proxy ground force against both Daesh and the Syrian government.

That strategy has come under harsh bipartisan criticism in recent weeks after senior military leaders testified that the “train-and-equip” program has all but failed.

Meanwhile, US officials are concerned that Russia’s airstrikes are targeting US-backed militant units in Syria instead of the ISIL forces.

"More than a year into this fight, the fact that Congress has not yet debated and voted on US military action against ISIL, including the defense of US-trained Syrian forces in the region, is appalling," said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia and a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.

President Obama on Friday condemned the Russian approach on Syria as “a recipe for disaster.”

“We're going to continue to have tensions. And we're going to continue to have differences,” but “we're not going to make Syria into a proxy war between the United States and Russia,” Obama said at a press conference.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk