Biden: "U.S Ready for Military Intervention in Syria, PKK Are Terrorists"
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Murad
Sezer/Reuters
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23
January, 2016
U.S
Vice President Joe Biden has expressed his country's readiness to
intervene militarily in Syria, if a peaceful settlement of the
conflict fails. This was reported by RIA Novosti.
He
also added that he considers his personal duty to be the liberation
of the Iraqi city of Mosul from terrorists of "Islamic State".
"We
are in contact with Ankara and Baghdad and other stakeholders on
Iraq, and will try to return to Mosul, to save it from ISIS,"
said Joseph Biden.
The
activities of the terrorist organization "Islamic State"
are declared illegal in Russia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O.R:
Other quotes from Biden's conference:
"ISIL is not the only existential threat… the PKK is equally a threat and we are aware of that."
"The PKK has shown no desire or inclination to do that (live in peace). It is a terrorist group plain and simple. And what they continue to do is absolutely outrageous.”
US & Turkey eyeing military operation in Syria against ISIS if peace talks fail
©
Reuters
US
Vice President Joe Biden says the US and Turkey are prepared for
military solutions in Syria if a political settlement cannot be
found. He added that Washington recognizes the Kurdistan Workers’
Party is as much of a threat to Ankara as Islamic State.
"We
do know it would better if we can reach a political solution but we
are prepared ..., if that's not possible, to have a military solution
to this operation and taking out Daesh,” Biden
said at a news conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu, as cited by Reuters. ‘Daesh’ is an Arabic term for
Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS/ISIL).
A
US official later clarified that Biden was talking about a military
solution to IS, not Syria as a whole.
However,
the pair disagreed about the status of the Kurdish Democratic Union
Party (PYD) in northern Syria, with Biden saying there is a
difference between the PYD and PKK.
“To
say that these [groups] are separate, one should be unaware that
those [PKK] guns are coming to [Turkey] from Syria,” Davutoglu
said, according to Reuters.
Ankara
believes the Syrian Kurds are looking to create a corridor along the
northern border with Turkey, which would cut off Turkey from sharing
a boundary with Syria.
“The
PYD is a terrorist organization that cooperates with the Syrian
regime. Struggling against Daesh does not grant them legitimacy,” the
Turkish prime minister said.
Kurdish
fighters have proved to be some of the most effective forces in
helping to combat Islamic State in northern Syria, while borders in
territories under its control have been sealed to stop the flow of
foreign IS militants into Syria.
On
Friday, Biden said Turkey’s intimidation of the media, curtailing
of internet freedom and accusations of treason made against academics
was not setting a good example in the Middle East.
"The
more Turkey succeeds, the stronger the message sent to the entire
Middle East and parts of the world who are only beginning to grapple
with the notion of freedom," Biden
mentioned.
"But
when the media are intimidated or imprisoned for critical reporting,
when internet freedom is curtailed and social media sites like
YouTube or Twitter are shut down and more than 1,000 academics are
accused of treason simply by signing a petition, that's not the kind
of example that needs to be set," he
said.
DELTA FORCE: According to a report at Friends of Syria, US Delta Force units are already on the ground in southern Syria near Jordanian border (Image Source: South Front)
‘There’ll be boots on the ground’: US making noises about ‘doing more’ in Syria and Iraq
21st
Century Wire says…
Various
parties in Washington are quietly laying down the rhetorical tarmac
for an increased US military operation in Syria.
Recent
remarks by US Secretary of Defense Ash
Carter (see
report below) in Davos appear to dovetail with similar words
yesterday from US Vice President Joe
Biden who
stated, “We are prepared to have a military solution for this
operation, and taking out Daesh (ISIS).”
The
following was reported by Press
TV yesterday, but as yet, we cannot corroborate the story:
“The
United States denies its special operations troops have taken over an
airfield in northeastern Syria, near the country’s border with Iraq
and Turkey.
A
spokesman of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said Friday
that the military “denied that US forces have taken control of any
airfield in Syria”. However, a spokesperson for the Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) told Al Jazeera earlier this week that the US
special operations forces had taken over the airfield near the city
of Rmeilan in Syria’s Hasakah province to support Kurdish fighters
against the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri group.’
Regardless,
don’t think for one second that the Pentagon doesn’t already have
some boots on the ground inside
Syria…
DELTA FORCE: According to a report at Friends of Syria, US Delta Force units are already on the ground in southern Syria near Jordanian border (Image Source: South Front)
Secretary
of Defense Ash Carter has reiterated US plans to increase its
military presence in the campaign to retake Mosul and Raqqa from
Islamic State, but urged other members of its coalition – like
Turkey – to contribute more to the war effort.
“We’re
looking for opportunities to do more, and there will be boots on the
ground — I want to be clear about that — but it’s a strategic
question, whether you are enabling local forces to take and hold,
rather than trying to substitute for them,” Carter
told CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
“I
don’t think we or anybody else can substitute for them, but there’s
a lot we can do to enable them, including being on the ground with
them.”
There
are currently about 3,600 US military staff in Iraq, in training and
military support roles, with US officials announcing earlier this
week that “hundreds,
not thousands” more
will be on their way shortly, though Carter himself vowed on Thursday
that the numbers would “increase
greatly as the momentum of the effort increases.”
The
reason for the uptick is the planned offensive against Raqqa, Islamic
State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) headquarters in Syria, and Mosul,
Iraq’s second biggest city also overrun by IS…
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