Syria ready to work with any state to fight Islamist militants

[alsame]

Syria ready to work with any state to fight Islamist militants

(Reuters) - Syria said on Monday it would cooperate in any international efforts to fight Islamic State militants in the country, after Washington signaled it was considering extending the battle against the group into Syrian territory.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, whose government has been shunned by the West, presented his country as a vital partner in the war against Islamic State that has seized wide areas of Syria and Iraq.

"Syria, geographically and operationally, is the center of the international coalition to fight Islamic State," Moualem said in a televised news conference. "States must come to it if they are serious in combating terrorism," he added.

Asked about the prospect of U.S. air strikes against Islamic State inside Syria, Moualem said his government was ready to cooperate with any country fighting militants. But any air raids mounted without Damascus's approval would be viewed as hostile acts. "Anything outside this (cooperation) is considered aggression," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/25/us-syria-crisis-minister-idUSKBN0GP0TS20140825?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71&google_editors_picks=true

[malaise]

1. Didn't John McCain and Cameron and the rest of Westerners

finance the rebels in Syria.
There are days when I feel I should laugh rather than cry.

[alsame]

2. "The rebels" was always a

vague term and I'm still not sure who they are/were. Who exactly were McCain's BFFs in those pictures from Syria?

The focus was so limited to Assad = bad that there was probably a lot of funding and arms that went to what is now ISIS.

**Not defending Assad**, just pointing out that the situation is extremely complex and not as 'good guy/bad guy' as the neocons try to suggest.