WASHINGTON, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – Recent comments by Vice President Joe Biden criticizing American allies Turkey and the Gulf States in the fight against the Islamic State represent six years of America systematically alienating and insulting its allies, Louisiana Governor and the Vice Chairman of the Republican Governors Association Bobby Jindal told RIA Novosti Monday.
"The President of the United States has already insulted every other ally we've had in his six years in office," Jindal told RIA Novosti at an American Enterprise Institute event on Monday. "The reality is, this administration... has systematically alienated our allies around the world," Jindal added, referring specifically to relations with Israel, Great Britain, and Middle Eastern allies.
"Unfortunately, Joe Biden's gaffe is one more sign, one more symptom in a pattern where this administration seems to go out of its way to alienate our allies," he continued.
On October 2 US Vice President Biden in a speech at Harvard University alleged that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had "poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad," which included extremist elements and Jihadis. Saying America's "biggest problem is our allies," he further alleged that Turkey had been allowing foreign fighters to cross its borders. The Vice President apologized for his remarks over the weekend, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the relationship with Biden is history.
Jindal told RIA Novosti he believes it is "absolutely counterproductive" for the Vice President to be insulting allies and "at the same time enlisting them in a coalitional fight against ISIS."
"I think that's going to have longer term consequences for American foreign policy," Jindal concluded. "In addition to the investment in the Pentagon, it's one of the things we have to reverse as a country. We have to stand more consistently with our allies."
Early in September, US President Barack Obama unveiled a strategy to defeat the Islamic State (IS) insurgency by creating an international anti-IS coalition and conducting airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq and Syria. The US-led coalition is currently comprised of more than 60 countries, according to the State Department.
Turkey agreed to join the alliance against IS in recent weeks, with the Parliament voting last week to engage in cross-border operations in Syria and Iraq, and allow foreign troops to use territory in Turkey.
