US, Allied With ISIS Terrorists In Syria: Sen. Paul

New York, June 23, IRNA – Republican US Senator Rand Paul said on Sunday that the Daesh (Islamic States in Iraq and Syria) terrorist group taking over Iraq have quickly gained power because the United States has armed them in Syria. ˈWe have been allied with ISIS in Syria,ˈ the senator admitted while speaking to CNN in an interview. ˈ…I think one of the reasons why ISIS has been emboldened is because we have been arming their allies. We have been allied with ISIS in Syria. They have had a safe haven because we have been arming the rebels to keep (Syrian President Bashar) Assad away from them,ˈ Paul said on CNNˈs ˈState of the Union.ˈ He stressed, ˈ…thereˈs chaos in the Middle East, and I think the chaos is because we have created a vacuum. ˈ…they (ISIS ) would not be empowered in Iraq if we were not providing safe haven in Syria by arming their allies.ˈ ISIS, an al Qaeda offshoot, has been collaborating with the Syrian rebels whom the Obama administration has been arming in their efforts to overthrow the Syrian president, Paul explained. ˈWeˈre with ISIS in Syria. Weˈre on the same side of the war. So, those who want to get involved to stop ISIS in Iraq are allied with ISIS in Syria. That is the real contradiction to this whole policy.ˈ During the past three years, Syriaˈs Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar Jaˈafari, has repeatedly called on the UN chief Ban Ki-moon to take serious actions against arming terrorist groups in Syria by certain countries including the US, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. He had argued that arming and financing Syrian terrorist groups by certain Persian Gulf Arab states as well as sheltering them by certain neighboring states of Syria would prepare the grounds for further activities of the terrorists in Syria. Commenting on the crisis in Iraq, Senator Paul expressed his clear opposition to the US involvement in any direct war in Iraq. ˈIˈm not willing to send my son into that mess.ˈ He said his prediction was that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will stand up and the Shiites will stand up, that ISIS will not be able to take Baghdad, and there will be a civil war over there. ˈWell, letˈs not be involved in a Syrian civil war, and letˈs not be involved in the Iraq civil war.ˈ/end