Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) accused the White House Tuesday of orchestrating a raid on Syria to help the political fortunes of Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
On Sunday American forces based in Iraq conducted a raid designed to strike a suspected senior Al Qaeda leader. Several civilians were killed, prompting the Syrian government to denounce the move as "brutal."
In an interview on CNN, Kucinich questioned whether the raid was worth the price.
"It's like saying, well, it's OK that we killed a million people in Iraq as long as we got Saddam Hussein," he said. "You have to have a sense of proportion about this stuff. And when innocent peoples' lives are on the line, you've got to make a judgment. Somebody needs to say why they did it."
"I think that we should be concerned that our nation doesn't stand for international law," the Democrat added. "The fact that we're on the eve of an election, we're violating international law, creating an attack inside another nation, this can create the kind of crisis that helps to change the emotional climate of an election."
After suggesting that the attacks had political motivations, Kucinich was asked directly if the Bush administration would conduct an "unnecessary raid" to help McCain. "Yes, I am saying that," Kucinich said. "I'm saying that they could do that. That's right." |