Ted Cruz: Obama shouldn't use U.S. military as 'Al-Qaeda’s air force'

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) suggested this week that President Barack Obama would be using the U.S. military as "Al-Qaeda’s air force" if he went forward with plans to strike Syria over the use of chemical weapons.

Joe Pags, who was guest hosting Glenn Beck's radio show on Tuesday, asked the Texas Republican if the president was pushing to attack Syria "because he wants to derail people like you and people like me who want to see Obamacare -- and the abomination that it is -- go away?"

Cruz refused to "speculate" about whether Obama was manufacturing the chemical weapons crisis in Syria to distract from Obamacare, but he gave the president credit for consulting Congress for authorization before using military force.

"Nobody wants to see another Benghazi in Syria, and that's really the fear, isn't it?" Pags wondered.

"That's exactly right," Cruz agreed. "But there's a broader problem. This administration, when it conducts foreign policy, it doesn't do so based on U.S. national security interests... It appears what the president is pressing for is essentially protecting his public relations because he drew a red line, and essentially the bluff was called."

"We're not going to resolve the tensions over there and the last thing we ought to be doing is sending our sons and daughters into harm's way to get into the middle of this sectarian civil war," he added. "We should be focused on defending the United States of America."

"That's why young men and women sign up to join the military, not to -- as you know -- you know, serve as Al-Qaeda's air force."

Watch the video below from The Blaze, broadcast Sept. 3, 2013.

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[Photo credit: Gage Skidmore]

(h/t: Politico)