“President Obama is open to any legitimate ways of moving faster that meets the test of our security needs and of what the Congress is willing to support”, Kerry said.
Advertisement
“Congress displayed absolutely zero willingness to vote to do that”.
The implication in the comments was that the administration has been eager to send in USA troops, only to be stymied by Congress.
Some lawmakers have called for USA ground troops in Syria.
The US and its allies have been conducting airstrikes against purported Daesh positions inside Syria and Iraq since 2014.
For its part, the administration has stressed repeatedly that there will not be “boots on the ground” in Syria or Iraq – even as the actual number of troops on the ground has swollen, to around 4,600 in Iraq and 300 in Syria.
In a jam-packed meeting with top European Union officials, where recent events in Turkey and Nice dominated the agenda, Kerry reiterated United States support for an ambitious trade agreement, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), hitting back against its critics who believe it is either bad for Europe or will never get off the ground.
Watch Kerry’s answer above, via CNN.
The Secretary of State said Washington is doing everything in its power to snuff out the ISIS in Iraq and Syria, adding the group has already lost 40-45% of the territory which it once held. “And people are acting out in various places”. But they are not growing in their ability to do things. Kerry said that the Orlando night club shooting, the Nice truck attack, and the Istanbul airport were no indication of the actual strength of ISIS’s fighting force. We’ve liberated communities. We’re making progress now advancing on Mosul.
Recent raids against ISIS targets have given the USA intelligence community a better understanding of how the terror group is structured and organized, and about its plans for attacks outside areas it controls in Syria and Iraq, a senior administration official recently told CNN.
He termed these attacks as “the desperate actions of an enemy that sees the noose closing around them”, reports CNN.
This is just the last five weeks.
He went on to say that ISIS – which is based in Iraq and Syria – is under huge pressure.
Advertisement
“I would like to thank you personally, and through you the USA administration of President Obama for the strong message and clear message that we always hear from you on the need for a strong and united Europe”, she said. “Yes, there is that danger”, he said.
