McCain made the remarks in a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Saturday.
“There are some of us who would like to see the United States more significantly engaged in assisting” the Syrian opposition to bring the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad down, McCain said.
In a key speech on January 6, Assad called for an end to terrorist operations inside Syria and urged “concerned states and parties” to stop funding, arming, and harboring militants.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.
And several international human rights organizations say the foreign-sponsored militants have committed war crimes.