Vice President Joe Biden suggested that a “military solution” is possible against the Islamic State in Syria, during a trip to talk with Turkish leaders about the fight against terrorist activity in the region.
“We are neither optimistic nor pessimistic, we are determined,” Biden said on reaching a political resolution in Syria, following back-to-back meetings with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
Biden is in Turkey this weekend to press it’s ally to agree to a more coordinated strategy to fight the Islamic State and discuss how to secure Turkey’s border.
On Syria, Biden said, “we do know that it would be better if we could reach a political solution. But we are prepared. We are prepared if that’s not possible to make — to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh,” according to a transcript released by Biden’s office.
Earlier in the day, the vice president’s press pool produced a slightly different quote from that press conference that implied Biden was suggesting a military solution was possible against Syria as a whole, and not solely against the Islamic State.
A Biden official later clarified that the vice president meant that as the U.S. seeks a political solution in the Syrian civil war, it is also pursuing a military solution against Daesh, an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. There is no change in U.S. policy, the official confirmed.
On the strategic front, Biden told reporters that there is no disagreement between the U.S. and Turkey.
“We are determined collectively and together to wipe out these terrorist organizations,” Biden said, citing the Islamic State, the Kurdish Workers’ Party and al-Nusra.
With the help of local Sunni Arab forces, Biden said the U.S. and Turkey hope to stem the refugee flow and secure Turkey’s border, through which it is feared that terrorists might enter the country, along with war materials and black market contraband.
“We do believe that our plans together have matured, they’ve gotten more coordinated and we are increasingly making progress, and I am confident that that progress will be sped up as a consequence of our meeting today and our continued collaboration,” Biden said.”
Note: This article has been update to reflect the transcript of Biden’s press conference remarks, released by the vice president’s office, which differs from the original pool report.
