US ‘arms’ for Syrian Kurds to continue after Raqqa: Mattis
‘Active preparations’ by Syria for chem attack: Pentagon
MUNICH, June 27, (AP): US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that America will continue to provide weapons to Syrian Kurdish fighters after the battle to oust Islamic State (IS) militants from Raqqa, Syria, is over.
Describing American reassurances to Turkey that the US will take back weapons given to the Syrian Kurds after the IS fight, Mattis said it depends on when or where the next mission is. And he also sounded a cautionary tone when asked if all the weapons would be returned. “We’ll do what we can,” he told reporters traveling with him to Germany.
Mattis’ comments marked the first time he has spoken at length publicly about the US pledge to recover the weapons provided to the Kurds.
Turkish officials late last week said Mattis had reassured them by letter that arms given to the Syrian Kurds would be taken back and that the US would provide Turkey with a regular list of arms give to the fighters.
The Trump administration’s decision last month to arm the Kurds roiled Turkey, which views the fighters as an extension of a terror group operating in Turkey.
Mattis said the US has made it clear all along that, “we’re going to equip them for the fight. If they have another fight and they need, you know, the light trucks that they’ve been using ... we’ll get them that.”
It depends, he said, on the battle and what weapons the Kurdish fighters need.
Mattis said the US gave the fighters weapons they needed for the urban fighting they are facing in Raqqa. And as the fight goes on, he said the US will collect weapons and repair them, or take certain weapons back and provide others .
“When they don’t need certain things any more, we’ll replace those with something they do need,” said Mattis, who is expected to meet with his Turkish defense counterpart during a NATO meeting later this week in Brussels.
The US is convinced that the Kurdish fighters, known as the YPG, are the most effective local force in trying to oust IS militants from their stronghold in Raqqa.
Ankara, however, fears that weapons given to the Kurdish fighters will end up in the hands of insurgents in Turkey, known as the PKK. The US also considers the PKK a terrorist organization, and has vowed it would never provide weapons to that group.
US officials have been careful not to publicly detail the amount or specific types of weapons going to the Syrian Kurds. But officials have indicated that 120 mm mortars, machine guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were likely. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the matter, said artillery or surface-to-air missiles would not be provided.
The initial weapons deliveries began at the end of May, and the Pentagon said they included small arms and ammunition. Mattis also said that as the His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left the country for India and is seen off by His
Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, accompanied by Deputy Chief of Kuwait National Guard (KNG) Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, left the country Sunday, heading to India on a private visit.
His Highness the Amir was seen off at the international airport by His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah,
fight against IS grows more complex and moves into the Euphrates River Valley, it will require more deconfliction with the Russians.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Tuesday it has detected “active preparations” by Syria for a chemical weapons attack, giving weight to a White House threat that the Syrian government would “pay a heavy price” if it carried out such an attack.
The US accusation and ominous warning marked a further escalation of tensions in a country where the US is using Syrian Arab and Kurdish proxy soldiers to combat the Islamic State group in its remaining strongholds, even as Russia and Iran work to support President Bashar Assad, who has gained the upper hand in a long civil war.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt Jeff Davis, said the US had seen “activity” at Shayrat airfield that “indicated active preparations for chemical weapons use.” That is the same base from which the Syrian air force launched an attack in April that the US and others said used lethal chemicals to kill civilians. Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanim, His Highness Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah, Amiri Diwan Affairs Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad AlSabah,
Syria denied the charge.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said the White House warning was meant for a wider audience.
“The goal is at this point not just to send Assad a message, but to send Russia and Iran a message,” Haley told a House panel. “That if this happens again, we are putting you on notice. My hope is that the president’s warning will certainly get Iran and Russia to take a second look, and I hope that it will caution Assad.”
Assad’s government and Russia dismissed the White House allegation. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “such threats to Syria’s legitimate leaders are unacceptable.” Russia is Assad’s key backer and sided with him when he denied responsibility for a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people in Idlib province on April 4.
The US responded to that attack by hitting the airfield with dozens of cruise missiles. In the days following, Mattis cautioned that the US was prepared to take further action if Syria repeated such chemical weapons use.
A Monday evening statement by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the US had “identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children.”
Spicer said the activities were similar to preparations taken before the April attack, but he provided no evidence or further explanation. The Monday evening statement caught many administration officials by surprise.
Several State Department officials typically involved in coordinating such announcements said they were caught off guard by the warning, and it appeared the underlying intelligence information was known only to a small group of senior officials. Typically, the State Department, the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies would all be consulted before the White House issued a declaration sure to ricochet across foreign capitals.