James Lankford Quotes

To simply demand that Assad go, and create a vacuum, could make the circumstances worse. To 'protect' Assad and his brutality is unconscionable. So you have to have a transition period here.

The U.S. would still like to see Assad go at some point. That would be our desired outcome.

I just don't understand how Kerry or Obama or anybody else thought Assad was going to change.

Unless there is meaningful change in Syria and an end to the crackdown, President Assad and those around him will find themselves isolated internationally and discredited within Syria.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad will inevitably go down. And its collapse will be loud not only in Syria but across the Arab world.

The central problem in Syria is that Sunni Arabs will not be willing partners against the Islamic State unless we commit to protect them and the broader Syrian population against all enemies, not just ISIS.

To maintain order after Assad's fall would require at least 500,000 troops in a never-ending occupation.

We have always said there are two ways to resolve Syria, and both will end up with the same result: a Syria without Bashar Assad.

In his final year in office, Clinton decided that his contribution to Middle East peace would lie not in the removal of Saddam Hussein but in a grand attempt to resolve the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel. With this, he missed his last chance to deal forcefully with the man he was publicly committed to overthrowing.

A majority of the Syrian people believe in the regime and support Bashar al-Assad.

Assad's regime helped ISIS grow by attacking other opposition forces and rarely targeting ISIS.

The dictator of Iraq will fully disarm or the United States will lead a coalition and disarm him.

No one in Washington has yet made a credible case that a post-Assad Syria can hold together.

The United States should propose partition in Syria. Assad can keep what he controls, and the rebels can form local governments and establish a new entity.

As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, it was a mistake to just eliminate him. The same is true for Moammar Gadhafi and for Libya, which is now a failed state.

To destroy the Islamic State, you have to fix Syria. You have to look at the reasons that created the Islamic State. This is a huge task.

There are still plenty of fighting forces inside of Syria who want to see Assad go. We should have been helping them from the very beginning.

What the United States needs to do at this point is reaffirm our commitment that Assad must go and that Iran and Russia cannot be granted a sphere of influence in Syria, and that we will not sit down at the negotiating table to help broker Assad's victory in this fight.

As was true in Iraq and Libya, the United States has no credible government or leader able to bring order, security, and freedom to the people of Syria if Assad is overthrown.

It's difficult to see how Syria can have any long-term future with Assad there as president. Many people would never return to that country if that were the case.

There is an obvious truth here that must be spoken. The truth is that Assad, Russia, and Iran have no interest in peace.

A lot of the issue that is happening in Syria is Assad is still there. And after years now, the administration, of saying Assad has to go, the pressure is not being applied to Russia, to Iran - the folks that are propping up Assad - and Assad himself to be able to actually be removed there and to transition to another leader.

We don't see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there.

Bashar al-Assad needs to be replaced, but he can't be replaced with another Bashar al-Assad.

There is a political process which we are trying to achieve through what is called the Vienna Group. That involves the establishment of a governing council, which is to take power away from Bashar Assad, to write a constitution and to open the way for elections. It is important that Bashar leaves in the beginning, not at the end of the process. This will make the transition happen with less death and destruction.