In this Oct. 2, 2014, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden answers questions from students at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass.WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden’s biggest mistake in accusing U.S. allies of supporting extremists in Syria may be that he said publicly what Obama administration officials have long preferred to say only privately.
Biden apologized over the weekend to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates after saying they had a role in allowing foreign fighters, weapons and money into Syria to bolster groups fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad. He also made similar statements about Saudi Arabia’s role in aiding extremists.
The diplomatic scramble that followed underscores the Middle East’s tangled alliances and the murky sources of support that have helped Syria become a hotbed for extremists. While Biden’s comments were in line with some of what U.S. officials have been saying for months, they also have the potential to complicate administration efforts to keep those same counties in the coalition fighting the Islamic State, one of the most violent groups that have taken hold in Syria.
Even after Biden’s back-to-back apologies, the White House was still in clean-up mode Monday. Officials made clear that Biden had erred in his public comments, but stopped short of declaring them inaccurate.
“He himself wishes he had said them a little differently,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in response to one of several questions on the matter in his daily briefing for reporters.