Shep Smith Lays Into GOP Rep. for Saying Assad Can âContinue to Kill His Own Peopleâ
by Matt Wilstein | 4:45 pm, September 4th, 2013 VIDEO
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, stepped out of todayâs hearing on Syria to speak with Fox Newsâ Shepard Smith this afternoon and ended up in a far more contentious argument that she could have anticipated.
Ros-Lehtinen began by saying many of her initial concerns of U.S. military action in Syria have been âalleviatedâ by the hearing, especially Secretary of State John Kerryâs assurances that there will be no âboots on the ground.â When she suggested that the Arab League could assist the U.S. in the operation, Smith began pushing back hard.
âThe Arab League has emphatically said no,â Smith corrected the congresswoman. âThe British are against it. Thereâs not a nation on the planet, congresswomanâwith great respect and admirationânot a nation on the planet that said if you go do this, weâre right there with you.â As for the question of âboots on the ground,â Smith laid out a worst case scenario and asked if the U.S. is prepared to âstir a hornetsâ nest that will leave us in full-scale Middle East war.â
When Ros-Lehitinen began defending the United Statesâ responsibility to hold a âmurderous thugâ like Bashar al-Assad accountable, Smith countered by laying out the parallels with the Iraq War. âIâm not equating the two things, but Iâm saying that our nation is weary,â Smith said. âWhy in the world would we bother, when we havenât even suggested that what weâre doing might stop the slaughter?â
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