Rubio blasts Russian leader during Iowa visit

CEDAR RAPIDS — Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin remain America's greatest threats and must be stopped, presidential hopeful and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio told Iowans at a forum in Cedar Rapids Friday, wrapping up his Iowa visit after visiting Cedar Falls and Dubuque.

Rubio appeared at a national security forum at the Cedar Rapids Public Library hosted by Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security, a conservative pro-defense group, expressing his views on the U.S. admitting Syrian refugees, how best to defeat ISIS and how to better handle relations with Russia.

Rubio slammed President Barack Obama, a Democrat, saying he's failed to show leadership against Putin and has done too little to protect Ukraine from Russian aggression.

'Under my administration, there will be no pleading for meetings with Vladimir Putin,' Rubio said. 'He will be treated as he is — a gangster and a thug.'

Rubio said the U.S. should stop working with Putin as long as he supports Syrian leader Bashar al — Assad. He called for new sanctions against Russian officials and companies for providing weapons and intelligence to Ukraine.

'He's using military power to prop up Assad, a vicious dictator, intentionally slaughtering the Syrian people,' Rubio said. 'No good can come from Russian involvement in Syria ... We are barreling toward a second Cold War and strong American leadership is the only force capable of ensuring peace and security once again.'

As for ISIS, the only way to defeat the group is to stop people from joining and to launch a coalition of Sunnis from surrounding countries like Egypt and Jordan to fight on the ground.

'Ultimately, ISIS must be defeated militarily, on the ground by Sunnis themselves,' he said. The U.S. 'would support with logistical support, intelligence support and additional airstrikes to confront ISIS directly and defeat them.'

Rubio would like to see U.S. special operations conduct raids to capture ISIS senior leaders and publicize it on social media.

'That's the only way in the short term we're going to be able to ebb the flow of money and fighters that are joining that movement,' he said.

With Obama's plans for the U.S. to take in at least 10,000 displaced Syrians over the next year. Rubio said the difficulty of background checks leaves open the possibility ISIS members could slip into the country. Instead, he wants to build a 'safe zone' within Syria for refugees, to be guarded by Sunni forces and protected by a U.S. no-fly zone.

A Real Clear Politics average of Iowa GOP polls shows Rubio in fifth place among Republican candidates, averaging 6.3 percent support with Donald Trump leading.