Posted on 02/22/2017 5:21:20 PM PST by Candor7
WASHINGTONSen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) secretly traveled to northern Syria last weekend to speak with American military officials and Kurdish fighters at the forefront of the push to drive Islamic State out of their de facto capital of Raqqa, according to U.S. officials.
The unusual visit, which officials said was organized with the help of the U.S. military, came as the Trump administration is debating plans for an accelerated military campaign against Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL.
Mr. McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, first traveled to rebel-controlled Syria in 2013, when he met with leaders of the Free Syrian Army, the umbrella group supported by America and its allies. This was believed to be his first visit to Syria since then.
U.S. officials familiar with Mr. McCains trip said that the senator traveled to Kobani, the Syrian town on the Turkey border controlled by Kurdish forces since 2012.
In a statement, Mr. McCains office confirmed that a trip took place, saying the senator traveled to northern Syria last week to visit U.S. forces deployed there and to discuss the counter-ISIL campaign and ongoing operations to retake Raqqa...................
.........U.S. officials involved in the debate say that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to launch a successful assault on Raqqa in the coming months without working with Kurdish forces. Turkish leaders have been pushing the Trump administration to sideline the Kurdish fighters, but they have not presented a viable alternative plan, U.S. officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
McCain trying to peddle some influence?Trying for more business for the defense contractors who have him in their pocket?
McCainistan thinks he’s president of a sovereign state.
The global powers that be have determined that Kurds and Basques must be forever stateless.
Why?
Did he go there to warn our enemies that we’re coming?
Probably.
*SPIT*
Syria Ping.
Senator John McCain trying to run interference on Pesident Trumps likley move to to help Kurds establish State of Kurdistan, and interfering with Trumps initiative to set up safe zones for Syrian refugees.
The Kurds will get it done. The Arab states will pay for it.
“Did he go there to warn our enemies that were coming?
Probably.
*SPIT*”
Good observation. He is probably passing on intelligence to his buddies in ISIS.
Isn;t there any way to suspend this jerk’s passport, or otherwise keep him the Hell away from the war zones he helped create with Obama? he;s at least unreliable and I think often very dangerous and he speaks for nobody other than his warhawk puppetmeisters like SorozNazi ?
ISIL? Juan McLame continues to suck-up to Jihadis?
I have always distrusted Keating McCain. He should have his chairmanship of his committee taken away for being on CNN and on foreign soil bad mouthing POTUS TRUMP.
Arizona how could you send this open borders Neocon senile 80 year old back to DC for a six year term. Really!!!
The best short-term solution available....
When McCain’s crimes are exposed let’s hope that his gerbil Graham is also implicated.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323423804579024452583045962.html
The Saudi ambassador, Mr. Jubeir, has long been courting members of Congress who could pressure the administration to get more involved in Syria. He found early support from Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
(snip)
Mr. Petraeus in mid-2012 won White House approval to provide intelligence and limited training to Syrian rebels at the base, including in the use of arms provided by others. Saudi and Jordanian agents began vetting the fighters to be trained, said Arab diplomats and a former U.S. military official.
Prince Bandar has largely stayed out of Washington but held meetings with U.S. officials in the region. One was in September 2012. Sens. McCain and Graham, who were in Istanbul, met him in an opulent hotel suite on the banks of the Bosporus.
Mr. McCain said he made the case to Prince Bandar that the rebels werent getting the kinds of weapons they needed, and the prince, in turn, described the kingdoms plans. The senator said that in succeeding months he saw a dramatic increase in Saudi involvement, hands-on, by Bandar.
(snip)
That winter, the Saudis also started trying to convince Western governments that Mr. Assad had crossed what President Barack Obama a year ago called a red line: the use of chemical weapons. Arab diplomats say Saudi agents flew an injured Syrian to Britain, where tests showed sarin gas exposure. Prince Bandars spy service, which concluded in February that Mr. Assad was using chemical weapons, relayed evidence to the U.S., which reached a similar conclusion four months later. The Assad regime denies using such weapons.
After Mr. Petraeuss November resignation over an affair, his job was handled by his deputy, Michael Morell, who privately voiced skepticism the agency could make sure any arms supplied by the U.S. wouldnt end up with hard-line Islamists, said congressional officials.
Ultimately, the new CIA chief was John Brennan, whose closest Saudi confidant when he was White House counterterrorism adviser was also focused on the risk of inadvertently strengthening al Qaeda. Since moving to the CIA, Mr. Brennan has been in periodic contact by phone with Prince Bandar, officials said.
McCain’s actions are beginning to reek! If he’s going behind Trump’s back and doing stuff .. he’s not going to be happy with the results of his trip.
Maybe McCain’s forgotten Obama is no longer in office.
There he goes again
Another proxy- war vacation for Emir McCain
Is McCain leaking Info again ?
He leaks more than the valve cover gasket on my 71 Maverick!
Drone.
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