Biden Walks Back Comment About Allies Helping to Arm ISIS

Official White House Photo by David Lienemann(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Joe Biden has issued an apology to the Turkish government after saying in a speech last week that Washington’s Middle Eastern allies inadvertently helped the rise of the Islamic State.

In the meantime, the United Arab Emirates is also looking for a “clarification” of Biden’s remarks.

The controversy began when Biden said that in their zeal to bring down the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Turks, Saudis and Emirates “poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad.”

Without meaning to, U.S. allies help fuel the growth of ISIS, according to Biden, which not only threatens the stability of both Syria and Iraq but is considered a new terrorist enemy of America.

Furthermore, Biden claimed, “We could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them” although he said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted to him that too many foreign fighters came through his border.

Erdogan is now saying that’s not true and demanded an apology from Biden, which came over the weekend.  It read in part, “The Vice President apologized for any implication that Turkey or other Allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied or facilitated the growth of ISIL or other violent extremists in Syria.”

Meanwhile, the UAE is also upset while there’s been no comment from the Saudis.

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