McCain described conditions for Syrians as more dire than ever. McCain: Syria crisis worsening

The Syrian opposition is losing ground to the forces of President Bashar Al-Assad and humanitarian conditions are worsening, Sen. John McCain said after speaking with an opposition leader on Saturday.

McCain received an “urgent phone call” from the chief of staff of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, General Salem Idriss, during which Idriss said he was “gravely concerned” about the conflict and described conditions as “deteriorating severely.”


Hezbollah fighters are spreading across the country and fighting around some of Syria’s largest cities including Aleppo and Homs, Idriss told McCain. McCain, a senior Senate Armed Forces Committee member, described conditions for Syrians as more dire than ever and said Idriss’s armies “are losing ground” and in need of armament to fight back against President Assad’s forces.

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McCain’s statement warned that a “growing onslaught by Assad, Hezbollah, and Iran, with significant Russian backing” will imperil the forces of the opposition without U.S. support. McCain flew into Syria and met with Idriss in late May and has said he prefers the U.S. engaged in the conflict by using long-distance weapons, like cruise missiles, to offer the rebels support.

“The Obama Administration has said it supports General Idriss and his fighters. Now is the time for them to prove it. If they delay any further, it will be too late,” McCain said Saturday afternoon.