Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have issued a blistering condemnation of the failure of the United States to act to prevent the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people in Syria.
"The words 'never again' ring hollow today with reports that Aleppo is falling to Assad regime forces," the senators wrote in a statement, amid reports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces were close to fully recapturing the besieged city of Aleppo from opposition forces.
"The cold logic of mass graves confronts us again, and the name Aleppo will echo through history, like Srebrenica and Rwanda, as a testament to our moral failure and everlasting shame," they wrote of the conflict that has killed more than half a million people.
The Washington Post reported a deal for rebels and some 40,000 civilians to leave Aleppo broke down Wednesday as fighting raged.
Regardless, McCain and Graham said reports of a cease-fire deal "were not a cause to celebrate," but rather a sure sign of the fate that awaits other Syrian cities . . . the Assad regime will use the ceasefire to reset its war machine and prepare to slaughter its way to victory across the rest of the country."
The senators said the entire sordid affair was "the inevitable result of hollow words and inaction, red lines crossed without consequences, tarnished moral influence, 'leading from behind,' and a total lack of American leadership."
"For four long years, Aleppo has been at the center of the Assad regime's war on the Syrian people," the statement continued. "Together with its Russian and Iranian allies, the Assad regime has relentlessly targeted women and children, doctors and rescue workers, hospitals and bakeries, aid warehouses and humanitarian convoys."
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