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UP FRONTFriday 11 March 2016
VP Biden says defeating Islamic State will ‘take long time’
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, visits a joint Jordanian-American training center at Zarqa, KARIN LAUB included two F-16s and
northeast of Amman, Jordan, Thursday, March 10, 2016. Associated Press eight helicopters, among
ZARQA, Jordan (AP) — them Blackhawks and Co-
(AP Photo/Raad Adayleh) Vice President Joe Biden bras.
on Thursday told U.S. troops Biden then addressed U.S.
who are training the Jor- troops at a separate event
danian military that Islamic in a mess hall in the com-
State extremists are “al- pound.
ready on their heels” but “We are going to defeat
defeating them will take a ISIL,” Biden told the soldiers,
long time. referring to the group by
Biden also told the U.S. mili- one of its acronyms.
tary instructors that Islamic “They are already on their
State militants don’t pose heels,” he said of the ex-
an existential threat to the tremists. “It’s going to take
United States. a long time, going to take
The vice president arrived a long time. They are no ex-
in Jordan earlier Thursday. istential threat to the Unit-
In the capital of Amman, ed States because we’ve
he met with King Abdullah got you and the people
II, a key Western military you are training (and) the
ally. finest military tactics in the
Washington has scaled up world.”
military aid to Jordan in re- As part of the deepening
cent months in line with the military cooperation, the
kingdom’s central role in U.S. last week gave Jordan
the fight against IS, which eight Blackhawk helicop-
controls large areas of ters to help boost border
neighboring Syria and Iraq. protection. An additional
After lunch, the vice presi- eight Blackhawks are in the
dent and the king flew pipeline.
by helicopter to the Joint Jordan is Biden’s last stop
Training Center, a military on a Mideast swing that
compound near the town also included the United
of Zarqa. Arab Emirates, Israel and
They viewed a flyover that the Palestinian territories.q
US turns over Islamic State leader
to control of the Iraq government
ROBERT BURNS for several weeks but said
AP National Security Writer he would eventually be
WASHINGTON (AP) — The turned over to the Iraqis.
U.S. military on Thursday Cook said the airstrikes
transferred the Islamic conducted as a result of
State leader captured last al-Bakkar’s capture “dis-
month to the control of rupted and degraded” the
Iraq’s government after us- group’s chemical weap-
ing information he provid- ons capabilities but did not
ed to conduct several air- necessarily eliminate the
strikes against the group’s problem.
chemical weapons pro- “We feel good about the
duction facilities. damage we’ve done to
Pentagon press secretary the program,” he said.
Peter Cook told report- Cook declined to provide
ers that Sulayman Dawud details of the strikes but said
al-Bakkar was transferred the information they’ve re-
to Iraqi control. He is also ceived will allow the U.S. to
known as Sleiman Daoud conduct additional strikes.
al-Afari and was the head Al-Bakkar worked for the
of the Islamic State group’s late President Saddam
chemical weapons devel- Hussein’s now-dissolved
opment unit. Military Industrialization
U.S. special forces cap- Authority, where he spe-
tured him in a raid last cialized in chemical and
month in northern Iraq, ac- biological weapons. Iraqi
cording to Iraqi and U.S. intelligence officials said
officials. The special com- he is about 50 years old
mando unit was deployed and headed the Islamic
to Iraq to conduct raids State group’s recently es-
and collect intelligence on tablished branch for the re-
the ground. The U.S. held search and development
him and questioned him of chemical weapons.q
