White House press secretary Sean Spicer argued Monday that “de-escalating” the multi-year conflict in Syria with the airstrikes President Donald Trump authorized last week was the most important thing the United States could do to support the Syrian people.
The White House has justified the Thursday bombing of a Syrian airfield as a deterrent against the future use of chemical weapons, as the Assad regime is alleged to have done in last week’s chemical attack. Spicer was asked at his daily press briefing Monday why it was acceptable to bomb Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s air force, but not to accept Syrian refugees into the United States.
“The reason that we took action was multi-fold,” Spicer explained. “Number one, to stop the proliferation, and deterrence of, chemical weapons. When you see mass weapons of destruction being used, it should be a concern to every nation, especially our own people. The proliferation of those weapons pose a grave threat to our national security.”
“So number one, we have to stop that. Number two, we have to stop ISIS,” he said, although the Islamic State was not the target of the attack.
He continued: “But with respect to the people of Syria, by us taking action and de-escalating what’s going on in Syria, that’s the greatest thing you can do to support those people. De-escalating the conflict there, containing ISIS, is the greatest aspect of humanitarian relief that we can provide first and foremost.”
Spicer emphasized a frequent talking point employed by Trump on the the campaign trail, and since his inauguration, that the United States would pursue establishing “safe zones” in Syria instead of accepting refugees.
“Secondly, creating areas in which we can work with allies, including Russia, and committing to ensuring that there are places that are free from violence and are places that are free for people to gather safely is another,” he said. “I think everyone would agree that the last thing people want to do there is leave. They want to stay there, they want to be in Syria, they want to have a safe place to remain with their families and not be separated.”
“So our number one priority is to defeat ISIS, but we’re also, I think from a humanitarian standpoint and a refugee standpoint, ensuring that we create an environment that provides a safe place for them to ultimately remain,” he added.
