Former Cleveland congressman Dennis Kucinich, who has

with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, was quoted yesterday in a Capitol Hill newspaper as saying that a

would turn the U.S. military into “al Qaida's air force.”

Kucinich, a fervent opponent of U.S. military engagement in Iraq - told

that intervention in Syria would ensnare the United States in another war and embolden the Islamist militants fighting Bashar Assad's regime.

“So what, we're about to become Al Qaida's air force now?” Kucinich told the publication. “This is a very, very serious matter that has broad implications internationally."

According to the Hill, Kucinich also "raised doubts" about claims the Syrian military - which is controlled by Assad - killed hundreds of people with chemical weapons last week. He accused the Obama administration of “rushing” into a potential “World War Three” based on questionable evidence.

“This is being used as a pretext,” he said in the interview. The verdict is in before the facts have been gathered. What does that tell you?”

After hundreds of people were killed in a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus last week, the Obama administration has said it is contemplating a military response to that action that would not be designed to take down Assad's regime.

A former mayor of Cleveland, Kucinich was elected to Congress in 1996 and served until he lost a primary battle to Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur after Republicans who controlled Ohio's redistricting process put them into the same district.

In 2011, Kucinich was widely criticized after Syrian media quoted him as saying Assad is "highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians." Kucinich said his remarks were mistranslated.