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On Monday, the White House said that US President Barack Obama has not taken a decision so far on launching air strikes at Islamic State (IS) extremists in Syria.
“The president has not made any decision to conduct military action in Syria”, Josh Earnest, a spokesman for the White House, said, amid increasing expectations of US actions after similar US attacks against the IS in Iraq.
Addressing reports that the Pentagon was preparing options for military action in Syria, Earnest said that it was the Pentagon’s job to plan for all scenarios.
“The president has not made any decision to order military action in Syria” he said, as Obama was due to meet Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to discuss issues including the threat from IS and the situation in Iraq.
Earnest did not respond directly to a comment made by the Syrian government that it would be willing to work with the US on “terrorism” in Syria – Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem also said that any US air strikes will need co-ordination with the Syrian government or they will be considered a violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
On several occasions in the past, Washington has repeatedly demanded that Syrian President Bashar Assad leave his position and have accused him of absolute violations of human rights during the civil war, in which at least 190,000 people have been killed.
Earnest also appeared to hint that if the US President were to launch attacks in Syrian territory, he will not feel the need to notify the Syrian government.
“The president has already demonstrated a willingness, where necessary … to use military force to protect the American people, regardless of borders.This is evident from the president ordering the mission to go and get Osama bin Laden.The United States was not invited in by the Pakistani government. That was a decision that the president made to go and get Osama bin Laden”.
