McCain scorns Obama administration's call for international deal to push Assad out

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday issued the harshest condemnation yet of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, telling reporters in Turkey that he “must transfer power and depart Syria.”

“Assad has doubled down on his brutality and duplicity. And Syria will not — cannot — be peaceful, stable or certainly democratic until Assad goes,” Clinton said following reports of a fresh massacre of 55 civilians by pro-government militias.

“The time has come for the international community to unite around a plan for post-Assad Syria.”

Speaking on the Senate floor a few hours later, Armed Services Committee ranking member John McCain (R-Ariz.) said relying on Russia to press Assad out is destined to fail, given that the Kremlin is arming the government and blaming rebels for the violence.

“I pray that President Obama will finally realize ... that when regimes are willing to commit any atrocity to stay in power, diplomacy cannot succeed until the military balance of power changes on the ground,” McCain said. “As long as Assad and his foreign supporters think they can win militarily, which they do, they will continue fighting, and more Syrians will die. In short, military intervention of some kind is a prerequisite to the political resolution of the conflict that we all want to achieve.”

• implementation of all six points of envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, including a verifiable cease-fire;

• Assad's transfer of power and departure from Syria; and

• the establishment of an interim representative government established through negotiation.

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