FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Pompeo Admits There Are Terrorists in Idlib

Sept. 5, 2018 (EIRNS)—In the midst of all of the hue and cry about the possible humanitarian implications of a Russian-backed Syrian government assault on terrorist-held Idlib province, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted that, indeed, the province is occupied by terrorist groups.

After saying that the humanitarian crisis “could be different in kind,” he told reporters yesterday traveling with him en route to Shannon, Ireland that the Russians have the narrative that there are terrorists in Idlib.

“That is a true statement. We share their concern about terrorism emanating from northern, northwest Syria. We absolutely agree with them there are terrorists in those locations and they need to be taken care of such that they don’t export terror around the world,”

he said, according to the State Department transcript.

But, he went on,

“It is not the way to do that to put the lives of all these innocent civilians at risk and create a humanitarian crisis, and I think that’s what you saw the President saying last night, was, we’re happy to work on the terrorism issue in this place, you made an agreement to handle this in a way that is different [referring to the de-escalation zone] from what it appears you’re thinking, please take that seriously.”

Nonetheless, the world knows what happened to Raqqa when U.S. air power and U.S.-backed forces cleaned out the terrorists by destroying the city.