Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) on Tuesday said he supported creating a no-fly zone in Syria and attacking President Bashar al-Assad’s air power and air defenses, Foreign Policy reported.
“I believe there should be the next ratcheting up of military effort and that would include going after some of Syria’s air defenses,” Levin said after a Senate hearing.
“You could protect that kind of a zone with these Patriot missiles, leaving the missiles in Turkey but having the zone inside the Syrian border,” he continued. “It is a way without putting boots on the ground and in a way that would be fairly cautious, that would put additional pressure on Assad and also create a zone where Syrian people who are looking for protection and safety could come without crossing the border and becoming refugees.”
Levin also said the military should be prepared to put troops on the ground in order secure chemical weapons, a move Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) endorsed Tuesday.
