|
 In an interview with Reuters, Bush said that if elected in 2016 he
would seek to build a coalition of European and Arab partners to
work for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which he
said is key to resolving the festering conflict and a worsening
refugee crisis.
Calling Putin a "bully", Bush said the United States and Europe
should also extend sanctions against Moscow over its military
aggression in Ukraine that are set to expire at year's end.
"How to deal with him is to confront him on his terms, not to create
a more bellicose environment but to simply say that there is going
to be a consequence," Bush said in the interview, in which he also
called for a tougher stance against China and to counter growing
Iranian and Russian influence in Iraq.
Russia's sudden step-up of military intervention since last month in
support of Assad has raised questions about U.S. influence in the
region and cast doubt on Obama's strategy, which has mostly steered
clear of confronting Assad militarily.
 With a raft of policy proposals, Bush has sought to position himself
as the most substantive candidate on foreign policy, drawing a
contrast with "outsider" candidates like Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina
and Ben Carson who have never held elected office.
Bush's approach to coalition-building over Syria carries echoes of
the coalition his father, then-President George H.W. Bush, built in
1991 to respond to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. He said he would
create a no-fly zone to protect Syrian refugees and allow for
training of Syrian rebels, an effort that has mostly collapsed under
President Barack Obama.
Obama has resisted the creation of a no-fly zone and has not stepped
in to protect Syrian rebels now under attack by Syrian government
forces backed by Iranian troops and Russian warplanes. He has said
Russia is acting out of weakness and warned Moscow it would get
sucked into "quagmire" in Syria.
"You see the potential now for a unified approach against both Assad
and ISIS," Bush said, referring to the Islamic State militant group
that controls swathes of Syria and Iraq. "If we do nothing, we're
basically saying goodbye to the Middle East."
He also said he would make sure the United States continues to
confront Islamic State in Iraq and bolster the national government
there amid signs that Russia and Iran are exerting growing influence
in the country.
"I wouldn't worry about antagonizing the Russians, for starters.
They should worry about antagonizing us," he said.
 CHINA A "LONG-TERM THREAT"
Bush would go further than Obama in the use of U.S. military
personnel already in Iraq by sending them to forward positions to
serve as spotters for U.S. air strikes. He has not called for a
major infusion of U.S. forces into Iraq.
Bush also set out a hawkish stance on China, whose relations with
Washington have cooled recently over Beijing's assertive moves in
the South China Sea and high-profile cyber attacks on U.S.
businesses and the government blamed on Chinese hackers.
He called China a competitor, not an ally, and a "long-term threat"
because of its military buildup and its powerful economy.
[to top of second column] |
"Ideally you get to a point where China and the United States could
forge an alliance to solve problems, but I don’t see that in the
immediate future," he said.
He said he would regularly send U.S. forces to pass through South
China Sea island territories claimed by China, "I'd fly over them
regularly without notice. Our navy should go through there. Those
are international waters," he said.
Under Obama, the Pentagon is considering sailing warships close to
China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea to signal it does
not recognize Chinese territorial claims over the area, a U.S.
defense official said on Thursday.
As for cyber-hacking, Bush said the United States should create a
"healthy deterrent effect" by demonstrating the capability to
respond in kind to the Chinese.
"We need to show whatever offensive capabilities we have, which I
think is important. We need to maintain the dialogue with China to
make sure that they understand that this is just not acceptable," he
said.
Bush said Washington needed to confront Tehran's growing missile
capability by ensuring Israel has the most sophisticated military
hardware and considering further sanctions against Iran.
"There are a lot of sanctions that have nothing to do with the
nuclear deal that can be reinforced," he said, referring to the
landmark agreement between major powers and Tehran in July.
Bush, who earlier this year was the heavy favorite for the 2016
Republican presidential nomination but is now fighting to rise in
the polls, made clear he feels that Senator Marco Rubio, a
competitor with Bush for the establishment Republican wing, does not
have enough experience.
"Marco is a great guy but he hasn’t had the record I’ve had in
developing strategies, applying conservative principles, disrupting
the old order, sticking with it, moving the needle in terms of
progress for the American people," he said.
He drew a connection between Rubio and Obama, who was elected in
2008 as a first-term senator.
"There was nothing in his profile that gave anybody confidence that
he actually could lead, and it turns out actually he hasn’t," Bush
said.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; editing by Stuart Grudgings)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
