MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) — The weapons supplied by the United States to Syrian rebels have reached the Islamic State (IS) militants, while US allies' position toward IS doubtful, Professor Srdja Trifkovic, Serbian-American writer on international affairs and foreign affairs editor for Chronicles magazine, told RIA Novosti.
"[The West claims] we're arming carefully vetted moderate Syrian rebels. My thought – there are no moderate rebels; they're all hardcore jihadists of one kind or another," Trifkovic added, citing evidence that US weapons given to the moderate Syrians rebels have already gotten into the hands of the Islamic State.
Trifkovic expressed concern that the key allies of the United States were Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar, who he referred to as "the most determined enemies" of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"So how can Riyadh and Doha after having aided and abated IS, giving them arms and money and what now, suddenly become their enemies… it's nonsense," Trifkovic said.
When asked if Russia should join in US operations against the Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East, Trifkovic was quick to say "absolutely not."
Professor then suggested that if Russia was to participate, it should, on the contrary, offer military support to Syria's president, Bashar Assad.
Trifkovic concluded by saying that Russia should follow a strategy of permanent vigilance with the West and seek stronger partnerships in the East, that is, China.
Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama revealed a strategy to defeat the IS. Obama said that Washington will be extending its airstrikes from Iraq to Syria, as well as providing support, equipment and training to Kurdish and Iraqi forces army and Syria's moderate opposition in order to respond to terrorists' threat.
