McCain Travels to Syria to Meet With Rebel Forces

WASHINGTON â€" Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has called vocally for the United States to intervene militarily in Syria, traveled to Syria on Monday to meet with rebel forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a spokesman for Mr. McCain. It was the first time that a United States senator had gone to Syria to meet with the rebels since the conflict there began two years ago.

Mr. McCain entered Syria from southern Turkey, according to his spokesman, Brian Rogers, who added that the senator had been in the region to attend the World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan over the weekend.

In 2011, Mr. McCain traveled to Libya to meet with rebel forces there while they were fighting Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and made similar calls for the United States to provide military aid to the rebels. The United States did ultimately provide military support, along with several European countries, and Colonel Qaddafi’s regime was toppled.

Since the conflict in Syria began, Mr. McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, have harshly criticized President Obama for not doing more to help the rebels. They argue that the president, who has authorized the shipment of night-vision goggles and body armor, should establish a no-fly zone and provide weapons to the rebels.

While in Syria, Mr. McCain met with Gen. Salim Idris, the leader of the military wing of the Supreme Military Council, a Syrian opposition group. The Obama administration considers General Idris much more of a moderate than the leaders of the Nusra Front, which has ties to Al Qaeda and is better financed and organized. Mr. Obama has refused to provide the rebels with military support because he fears that would empower the more radical elements of the opposition.

After the Israeli military struck a major Syrian military research center near Damascus this month, Mr. McCain said the strike had weakened the argument that Syria’s air defense system would be difficult for the United States to penetrate.

“The Israelis seem to be able to penetrate it fairly easily,” he said on May 5 on “Fox News Sunday.”

The United States, Mr. McCain said, could easily strike the Syrian defenses “with cruise missiles, cratering their runways, where all of these supplies, by the way, from Iran and Russia are coming in by air.”