Following Secretary of State John Kerry's statement Friday regarding unrest in Syria, former Florida Rep. Allen West (R) took to Facebook to slam the White House's approach to the situation.
In his statement, Kerry asserted that U.S. intelligence has "high confidence" that the regime under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is behind the Aug. 21 chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus. He explained that such attacks could threaten the national security of the United States, while noting that any military action on the part of the U.S. would be limited.
"If we are not going for regime change, then what is the purpose?" West implored on his Facebook page. "A year ago President Obama fired off his mouth and now he wants to fire off missiles. To borrow his own words, he 'acted stupidly.'"
Kerry adamantly maintained that U.S. intelligence was carefully considering evidence in the interest of avoiding errors like those that led up to the war in Iraq, assuring the press that "[w]e will not repeat that moment."
West, however, was unconvinced. "If Obama launches an attack against Syria, a series of unintended consequences shall ensue over which he will have no control. Obama's strategic incompetence was evidenced when there was no Status of Forces agreement to keep a residual force presence in Iraq," he said. "Now we see the consequences from that faux pas."
Kerry reported that the Aug. 21 chemical attack killed at least 1,426 people, at least 426 of whom were children. Immediately preceding a meeting with Baltic leaders in the White House, President Barack Obama said that while he is not interested in pursuing "any open-ended commitment" or "boots-on-the-ground approach" to intervention in Syria, he has "not made any decisions" regarding military action.
Below, West's full Facebook post on Obama and the crisis in Syria:
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