State Dept: ISIL in Iraq and Syria Are ‘Entirely Different Situations’

State Dept: ISIL in Iraq and Syria Are 'Entirely Different Situations' (Washington Free Beacon)

In the view of the State Department, the actions of militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq are “entirely different situations.”

At a briefing Wednesday, a reporter asked State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki to reconcile the United States’ cautious position on intervening in Syria, where ISIL is active, with its recent declared support of Iraq in fighting ISIL. “But you’re not making a distinction, are you, between the group’s activities in Iraq and the group’s activities in Syria? I mean, they’re just as deadly to the Syrian people as the Iraqi people, and they’re going back and forth across the border.”

“Well,” Psaki responded, “they’re entirely different situations.”

Psaki claimed that there have been “many different conflicting reports” about ISIL in Syria and Iraq, and “there are different coalitions and different factions.”

“They claim to be one and the same,” a reporter countered.

“But regardless,” Psaki said, “any threat, any terrorist threat — there are many that unfortunately exist in that particular region — are of concern to us and that’s why we are upping our focus on the changing threat — changing threats that we’re facing today.”