When it comes to coalitions to counter the Islamic State (ISIL), the world is only big enough for one, the Obama administration suggested on Tuesday.
State Department Press Secretary John Kirby said Thursday that renewed cooperation between the Russian and Syrian governments will not be seen as a positive development by the US-led alliance against ISIL.
“There’s no need for another international coalition against ISIL when 60-plus nations are already aligned and then having an effect on ISIL not just in Syria but also in Iraq,” Kirby told reporters at a daily press briefing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his nation would support the Syrian government in “countering the terrorist aggression,” and “provide it with the necessary military technical assistance.”
He urged “other countries to join us.”
“I don’t know if I would call Russia and Iran a coalition,” Kirby said mockingly. Iranian forces have also already been actively involved in fighting ISIL in Iraq, and Tehran, like Moscow, supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Who can’t be part of that coalition is Bashar al Assad,” Kirby said. “He can’t be a partner in the coalition to go after ISIL because he’s the major reason they’re there.”
Those claims elicited criticism from a Russian journalist, who questioned the administration’s official line that Assad is to blame for the rise of ISIL.
“Many people in my part of the world believe that the reason for ISIL’s existence is the policy of regime change that is pursued by the US and the American allies. What is your response to that?” he asked.
“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer,” Kirby responded.
Kirby also refused to comment on a Tuesday report in the Guardian, which claimed that US negotiators in 2012 rejected an offer from Russia that would have paved the way for Assad’s departure.
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari—a senior negotiator in Syrian peace talks in 2012—alleged that the Russian offer was ultimately rejected by the US, Britain, and France. The Western allies were non-responsive, he claimed, because they were convinced that the Assad government was within weeks of being toppled.
“I have nothing on that. I’ve seen those reports, I have nothing to confirm that one way or another,” Kirby told reporters Tuesday.
As the Guardian noted, the death toll from the Syrian civil war around the time of the proposal stood at 7,500. In the fighting that has followed, more than 200,000 Syrians have been killed.
