McCain said he’s puzzled by the Obama administration’s stance now because two years ago President Barack Obama said Assad had to go. He said the president needs to do a better job to explain what the U.S. policy is in the Mideast, particularly in Syria.
But McCain said he would not support sending American troops into Syria.
How will Syria affect markets?
“Syria in terms of its oil output is relatively de minimis, but in the meantime should it escalate to something where Iran gets involved … [this could lead to] some kind of major supply disruption,” Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial, told CNBC. He added that a bigger shock like this, with the potential to bring the price of oil back up to 2008 levels “would be problematic economically.”