US has 'no reason to be in Syria', Republican Senator Rand Paul says

Kentucky Senator also urges restraint in Venezuela

US forces struck more than 70 ISIS-linked targets in Syria on Friday. AFP

Also making an appearance during the Sunday morning US political talk show circuit was Republican Senator Rand Paul, who said that although “it's hard not to hit back” in Syria after the recent killings of three Americans, he wants the US to completely wind up its presence in the country.

“There's no reason for us to be in Syria. We need to leave Syria and not be a tripwire to getting back involved in another war,” Senator Paul said during an interview on ABC's This Week.

He told This Week host Jonathan Karl that at most, the US has approximately 1,500 troops in Syria, and that they continue to be treated as target for nefarious groups.

US and Jordan carry out large-scale retaliatory strikes against ISIS in Syria

00:50

“Unfortunately in the Middle East they like nothing more than to kill an American. They do it for the celebrity nature of killing Americans,” Senator Paul said, adding that often the US troops are killed “for the celebrity nature of killing Americans”.

Senator Paul usually pushes what many would consider a dovish approach to US military intervention, especially by Republican standards of the past few decades.

Overnight on Friday US and Jordanian forces launched an operation against ISIS in Syria, killing at least five members of the extremist group, including a cell leader. The strikes were a response to an attack in Palmyra last week in which three Americans were killed, the Centcom and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.

Mr Hegseth said in a post on social media that the attack – called Operation Hawkeye Strike – was an attempt to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure and weapons sites.

“This is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance,” he wrote. “The United States of America, under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people.”

US Central Command said US and Jordanian forces struck more than 70 ISIS targets. The operation employed more than 100 precision munitions against known ISIS-affiliated sites, it said.

US-Venezuela tensions

US tensions with Venezuela also loomed large on Sunday's network and cable news shows, a day after the US said it had “apprehended” an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Saturday, in a move Venezuela has described as “theft and kidnapping”.

It is the second time in two weeks that the US has intercepted a tanker in the region, and comes days after the US President Donald Trump announced a blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” heading to and leaving Venezuela.

US intercepts another oil tanker off coast of Venezuela

00:47

The US has for months been building a major military force in the Caribbean with the stated goal of fighting Latin American drug trafficking, but taking aim at Venezuela.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine told NBC's Meet the Press that he was frustrated with the Trump White House's approach. “We should be using sanctions and other tools at our disposal to punish this dictator who is violating the human rights of his civilians and has run the Venezuelan economy into the ground,” he said, referring to President Nicolas Maduro.

Calling the country “bad news” and accusing Venezuela of “flooding the US with cocaine”, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham gave a strident defence of the White House's recent actions. “President Trump promised to secure our nation from the scourge of narco drug trafficking and the kingpin in our backyard is Maduro in Venezuela,” he said.

On ABC, Republican Senator Paul said he was not pleased with President Trump's decision to ratchet up tensions and not rule out military actions in Venezuela. “I'm not for any of this,” he said.