Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersSenate Republicans signal openness to working with Biden Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Schumer, Sanders call for Senate panel to address election security MORE (I-Vt.) on Sunday said he doesn't want the country to get into a war with Syria, calling for the government to focus on the needs of Americans in the wake of President Trump's missile strike against Syrian President Bashar Assad's military.

"I do not want to see the United States get sucked into perpetual warfare in the Middle East, see our men and women get killed, trillions of dollars being spent," Sanders said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

"I don't want to see us dragged into another war in Syria when kids in this country cannot afford to go to college, when our infrastructure is collapsing, when 28 million Americans have no health insurance — we have got to start paying attention to the needs back home."

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The Vermont senator said the country needs to work with its allies in the region.

Sanders said what is happening in Syria is "almost beyond belief."

"You have a dictator there who appears prepared to destroy his entire country in order to hold onto his power and his wealth," Sanders said.

"Four hundred thousand Syrians are dead. 10 million people displaced. They have detainment camps, massive torture, they bomb hospitals. This is a horrific regime."

The Trump administration has sent mixed messages about if Assad should be able to remain in power after using chemical weapons against his own people.

Sanders said the U.S.'s job in Syria is to "not act unilaterally."

"In this case, we have got to demand that Russia and Iran stop their efforts in supporting this horrific dictator," Sanders said.



"Assad has got to go. ISIS has got to be defeated."