Special to WorldTribune.com

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, said President Barack Obama’s inaction in Syria has contributed to the ongoing slaughter of Syria’s people as well as the current refugee crisis in Europe.

“This president has allowed these folks to be slaughtered,” Christie said during a campaign stop on Sept. 4 in New Hampshire.

“I frankly can’t imagine as president of the United States how you could permit this to happen on this scale, and now we’re seeing those results. And it’s much different when you read about it, and when you see it — it becomes even more powerful.”

Christie said Obama not only damaged U.S. credibility but also sealed the fate of thousands of Syrians by not attacking after President Bashar Assad’s forces used chemical weapons on civilians, which Obama had previously declared a “red line.”

Obama is “responsible for a lot of what went on there, not all of it, but he’s responsible for not keeping his word,” Christie said.

The refugee crisis took on new meaning for many who hadn’t paid it too much attention before as footage emerged this week of a 2-year-old Syrian boy who drowned and washed up on a Turkish beach.

“That young child today is a symbol for this country’s inaction and this president’s deceit,” Christie said. “He said he wouldn’t let this happen and then he did. We can’t be known as the country that doesn’t keep its word. America’s got to be known as the country that can keep its word.”

Sen. Rand Paul, also a Republican presidential hopeful, told CNN that bad experiences with previous refugees from Syria and Somalia have him leery of the United States accepting more.

“We are a welcoming nation, and we have accepted a lot of refugees, and I think we will continue to do so. But we also can’t accept the whole world, so I think there are some limits,” Paul said. “We’ve received so many immigrants and refugees from Somalia that many of them are from the faction going back to Syria to fight against us.”

  Bashar Assad, chemical weapons ‘red line’, Chris Christie: Obama ‘allowed’ slaughter of Syrians, refugee crisis, WorldTribune.com