Story highlights
Ted Cruz:: Putin is strong-arming into the Middle East to prop up his client, Syria, and the Obama administration is caught flat-footed
The U.S. Syria policy is failing, and the U.S. can regain advantage by stressing exceptionalism, human rights and missile defense, he says
Editor’s Note: Ted Cruz is a U.S. senator from Texas. He is seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) —
Over the last week, the world has once again looked on aghast as President Vladimir Putin has taken violent advantage of regional instability to re-establish Russia’s influence, this time in the Middle East. Despite promises to join the United States in a counterterrorism effort against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Putin is on a mission to protect Russian assets in the Mediterranean by propping up his client, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Courtesy of Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has been caught flat-footed as Putin’s actions threaten to inflame and destabilize an already acute crisis.
Enough already. We don’t need a reset. We need a reality check.
Putin has been unmoved by the Obama administration’s threats of isolation on the international stage, and economic sanctions have on their own been no deterrent to his opportunistic behavior. More of the same will not result in success.
We need a coherent plan to address both the specific crisis in Syria and the challenge posed more broadly by Putin’s resurgent Russia. The good news is that America still has options – if our leaders can summon the will to exercise them.
For starters, in Syria we can’t double down on the failed strategies that have given Putin his opportunity to intervene. We are now two years out from President Obama’s proposed intervention after al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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UNRWA/Reuters/Landov
Displaced Syrian residents wait to receive food aid distributed by the UN Relief and Works Agency at the besieged al-Yarmouk camp, south of Damascus, Syria, on January 31, 2014. According to the UN Envoy for Syria, an estimated 400,000 Syrians have been killed since an uprising in March 2011 spiraled into civil war. See how the conflict has unfolded.
Photos: Explosions rock Ankara, Turkey
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images
An injured man lying in the back of a vehicle is rushed to a hospital in Daraa, Syria, on March 23, 2011. Violence flared in Daraa after a group of teens and children were arrested for writing political graffiti. Dozens of people were killed when security forces cracked down on demonstrations.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Hussein Malla/AP
Anti-government protesters demonstrate in Daraa on March 23, 2011. In response to continuing protests, the Syrian government announced several plans to appease citizens.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Vadim Ghirda/AP
Syrian children walk over bricks stored for road repairs during a spontaneous protest June 15, 2011, at a refugee camp near the Syrian border in Yayladagi, Turkey.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Burhan Ozbilici/AP
Jamal al-Wadi speaks in Istanbul on September 15, 2011, after an alignment of Syrian opposition leaders announced the creation of a Syrian National Council -- their bid to present a united front against Bashar al-Assad's regime and establish a democratic system.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images
Delegates from Arab League member states and Turkey discuss a response to the government's crackdown in Syria on November 16, 2011.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Khaled Al-Hariri/Reuters/LANDOV
Supporters of al-Assad celebrate during a referendum vote in Damascus on February 26, 2012. Opposition activists reported at least 55 deaths across the country as Syrians headed to the polls. Analysts and protesters widely described the constitutional referendum as a farce. "Essentially, what (al-Assad's) done here is put a piece of paper that he controls to a vote that he controls so that he can try and maintain control," a US State Department spokeswoman said.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
Syrian refugees walk across a field in Syria before crossing into Turkey on March 14, 2012.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Emin Ozmen/AFP/Getty Images
Rebel fighters with the Free Syrian Army capture a police officer in Aleppo, Syria, who they believed to be pro-regime militiaman on July 31, 2012. Dozens of officers were reportedly killed as rebels seized police stations in the city.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Goran Tomasevic/Reuters/Landov
A Free Syrian Army fighter runs for cover as a Syrian Army tank shell hits a building across the street during clashes in the Salaheddine neighborhood of central Aleppo on August 17, 2012.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Edouard Elias/Getty Images
Family members mourn the deaths of their relatives in front of a field hospital in Aleppo on August 21, 2012.
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
A Syrian man carrying grocery bags dodges sniper fire in Aleppo as he runs through an alley near a checkpoint manned by the Free Syrian Army on September 14, 2012.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Free Syrian Army fighters are reflected in a mirror they use to see a Syrian Army post only 50 meters away in Aleppo on September 16, 2012.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Rauf Maltas/Anadolu Agency/Reuters/LANDOV
Smoke rises over the streets after a mortar bomb from Syria landed in the Turkish border village of Akcakale on October 3, 2012. Five people were killed. In response, Turkey fired on Syrian targets and its parliament authorized a resolution giving the government permission to deploy soldiers to foreign countries.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images
A Syrian rebel walks inside a burnt section of the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo hours before the Syrian army retook control of the complex on October 14, 2012.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli tank crew sits on the Golan Heights overlooking the Syrian village of Breqa on November 6, 2012. Israel fired warning shots toward Syria after a mortar shell hit an Israeli military post. It was the first time Israel fired on Syria across the Golan Heights since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in Aleppo as fighting continues through the night on December 1, 2012.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images
The bodies of three children are laid out for identification by family members at a makeshift hospital in Aleppo on December 2, 2012. The children were allegedly killed in a mortar shell attack that landed close to a bakery in the city.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Muzaffar Salman/Reuters/Landov
A father reacts after the deaths of two of his children in Aleppo on January 3, 2013.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Achilleas Zavallis/AFP/Getty Images
Syrians look for survivors amid the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in the al-Mashhad neighborhood of Aleppo on January 7, 2013.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Edouard Elias/AFP/Getty Images
Rebels launch a missile near the Abu Baker brigade in Al-Bab, Syria, on January 16, 2013.
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Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
An aerial view shows the Zaatari refugee camp near the Jordanian city of Mafraq on July 18, 2013.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
The UN Security Council passes a resolution September 27, 2013, requiring Syria to eliminate its arsenal of chemical weapons. Al-Assad said he would abide by the resolution.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Haleem Al-Halabi/Reuters/Landov
Residents run from a fire at a gasoline and oil shop in Aleppo's Bustan Al-Qasr neighborhood on October 20, 2013. Witnesses said the fire was caused by a bullet from a pro-government sniper.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Stoyan Nenov/Reuters/LANDOV
Syrian children wait as doctors perform medical checkups at a refugee center in Sofia, Bulgaria, on October 26, 2013.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Mohammed Al-Khateib/AFP/Getty Images
An injured man is helped following an airstrike in Aleppo's Maadi neighborhood on December 17, 2013.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Hosam Katan/Reuters/Landov
A man holds a baby who was rescued from rubble after an airstrike in Aleppo on February 14, 2014.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters/Landov
A US ship staff member wears personal protective equipment at a naval airbase in Rota, Spain, on April 10, 2014. A former container vessel was fitted out with at least $10 million of gear to let it take on about 560 metric tons of Syria's most dangerous chemical agents and sail them out to sea, officials said.
Photos: In photos: Syria's civil war
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Jalal Al-Mamo/Reuters/Landov
A Free Syrian Army fighter fires a rocket-propelled grenade during heavy clashes in Aleppo on April 27, 2014.