WASHINGTON — The United States must do more to fight ISIS and to stop Syria’s President Bashar Assad from using barrel bombs against civilians, senior officials from Qatar said Wednesday on a visit to Washington.
One official from the key U.S. ally told reporters it had been a mistake for President Barack Obama to draw his infamous “red line” against the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s civil war — and then fail to intervene.
The Qataris — part of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in Syria and Iraq — are also unhappy with the White House refusal until now to train so-called moderate Syrian rebels who are fighting both the Assad regime and the rise of ISIS.
A delegation from the Gulf State led by the Emir of Qatar was in Washington for meetings with the president, vice president, Treasury secretary and members of Congress. The U.S. is seeking closer ties with Doha, and uses the giant al-Udeid Air Base as a key facility in the campaign against ISIS.
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Reuters contributed to this report.