Sen. Bob Corker: 'I Do Not Understand' Obama on Syria

MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 13 October 2015 12:47 PM EDT

President Barack Obama likes to make strong proclamations, but he won't act on them, Sen. Bob Corker said Tuesday, complaining that he just doesn't understand Obama's stance on Syria.

"It's sort of the 'big hat, no cattle syndrome,'" the Tennessee Republican, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told "MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program on Tuesday.

"With [Russian President Vladimir] Putin stepping in, with Iran assisting with a new resurgence and stronger Iran helping in Syria, it really leaves very few options."

Corker told the show that there has been a "memo on the president's desk" for some time to deal with the Turkey-Syria border and create a no-fly zone for humanitarian purposes and alleviate the growing refugee situation, but he doesn't understand why action has not been taken.

"I do not understand this president," Corker said. "There have been long discussions with Turkey that would have sealed the borders. It would have created a place where the free Syrian moderates, of course many of them diminished now, could have located."

He said the same kind of situation happened two years ago, when there was intelligence from inside Ukraine, but no action was taken.

"After this last situation with Putin coming in and totally changing the dynamic, what I've called for is, please, don't make any more strong statements, don't undermine our credibility anymore," Corker said.

He believes that the growing chaos in Syria will end in more refugees fleeing to Europe, telling the show that Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have created a scenario "where very much they're going to be part of the equation as it relates to finding an end game here."

Going forward, Corker said he believes foreign policy will play a much larger role in the presidential election than it has in years past.

"In the '08 election, the country as a whole did not want to be involved in foreign excursions," he said. "It's moving back as they understand the threats in these places, ISIS and others generating the kind of ability to affect us at home."