Daily Press Briefing
John Kirby
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
November 5, 2015
Index for Today's Briefing
SECRETARY'S TRAVEL
DEPARTMENT
KEYSTONE XL
MIDDLE EAST PEACE
EGYPT/RUSSIA
MIDDLE EAST PEACE
BAHRAIN
SYRIA/ISIL/REGION
BURMA
MEXICO
SYRIA/ISIL/REGION
CYBER SECURITY
TRANSCRIPT:
2:13 p.m. EST
MR KIRBY: Good afternoon, everybody.
QUESTION: Hello.
MR KIRBY: Hello.
QUESTION: Happy Thursday.
MR KIRBY: Happy Thursday. All right, just a couple of programming notes at the top here.
I do want to announce travel by the Secretary. On Tuesday, the 10th of November, he will go to Norfolk, Virginia, to deliver a speech on climate change and national security at Old Dominion University. ODU's Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative has facilitated research and education in all aspects of climate change and sea level rise, and it houses the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project, which is the first of its kind. And the Secretary very much looks forward to touring that facility as well and talking to faculty and staff there.
While in Norfolk, he will also tour the USS San Antonio, one of the Navy's newest amphibious ships, and receive a briefing from the Maritime Operations Center. This is to gain a better understanding of the U.S. Navy's clean energy initiatives as well as efforts being taken by the Navy and Hampton Roads to deal with climate change and sea level rise as well. The Secretary's speech will be open to the press and it'll be streamed, of course, on our website at state.gov.
I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate our USA Pavilion team in Milan for hosting more than six million visitors during the Milan Expo, a milestone achieved just before the expo wrapped up its six-month run on this past Saturday, the 31st of October. They truly did – all the staff there worked really hard, truly showcased the best of American innovation and leadership on crucial food security issues, welcoming dignitaries, of course, from all over the world. So we commend them on their hard work and the efforts and a very successful run there at the Milan Expo.
With that --
QUESTION: Can I just start with a logistical thing that'll be very short, which is I just wonder if there's any update on the Keystone.
MR KIRBY: No. I have nothing to update you on that.
QUESTION: Okay. You don't know if there's been a response from TransCanada to --
MR KIRBY: I'm not aware of any.
QUESTION: Moving on, let's go to – in the Middle East. One of the major planks of the Secretary's platform that he announced to reduce tensions between Israelis and the Palestinians was the installation of cameras to monitor the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary 24/7. At the time that it was announced, he said that they would be hopefully up and running soon, and then in subsequent comments you talked about how this video would be available to everyone live, 24/7. Now there are reports out of Jordan, which is an integral part of – an integral player in this, that not only will there not be any cameras in the two mosques up there but that the video will not be seen anywhere except in Amman, and that it could take another six weeks for this to actually come to that. Is this okay with you guys? Is this – does this – is this in keeping with the agreement that you thought had been reached?
MR KIRBY: Well, what we understand is that Israel and Jordan still remain engaged on this. And as for the specifics of how it's going to go, I'd refer you to them. But the Secretary continues to believe that this is an important component of increasing transparency and thereby helping to enhance security. But as to where the cameras are going to be mounted and how they're going to be connected, I mean, I would point you to officials in Israel and Jordan to speak to that. It's our understanding that technical teams from both countries will be working out the details. It is still our expectation that the video footage would be livestreamed and available 24/7 to the public.
QUESTION: Everywhere?
MR KIRBY: That's still our expectation.
QUESTION: Okay. So it would be a problem for you guys should that change and should the video only be available to certain people.
MR KIRBY: We would very much like to see, as the Secretary said back in Amman a few weeks ago – we'd like to see it available to the public 24/7.
QUESTION: Right. So it would be a problem if it wasn't for you, right?
MR KIRBY: That's – our expectation is that it's going to be available to the public by --
QUESTION: I understand that. But your expectation seems to have been contradicted a bit today.
MR KIRBY: Well, I haven't seen these particular comments.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR KIRBY: So rather than rebut comments I haven't seen, I'm just going to tell you what our expectation is.
QUESTION: Can we stay on the same topic a little bit?
MR KIRBY: Sure.
QUESTION: So we're a bit confused. So the videos by themselves would not be okay with you? You would have – you want the Jordanians to come through on the deal that you concluded with them, which is installing cameras in the two mosques, correct?
MR KIRBY: It's not a deal that we concluded with the Jordanians, Said. It is – it's an arrangement that Israel and Jordan arrived at, obviously one supported by Secretary Kerry – very supportive of it. And we still would like to see these cameras installed and in use as soon as possible. Nothing's changed about that. But this has to be done by – it has to be worked out through technical teams from both countries. They've got to work out the modalities of it, and it's our expectation that they will.
QUESTION: Do you think that the Jordanian king basically knuckled under pressure by a larger Palestinian population in Jordan? Do you think that he basically --
MR KIRBY: In what way?
QUESTION: In – because they protested this. They thought that the cameras would only serve Israel's security – intelligence gathering systems --
MR KIRBY: Your question presumes that there's been some change in policy or decision by Jordan unilaterally with respect to this, and I'm not aware of any change in the plan to install and to use these cameras, as was discussed a few weeks ago. I'm not aware that there's been any change. So your question about whether he knuckled under – I mean, you're using it in the past tense.
QUESTION: Right.
MR KIRBY: Again, I don't know that there's been such a decision. And as I said to Matt, it's still our expectation that these cameras will be installed, hopefully very, very soon, and be in use very, very soon and be available to the public 24/7.
QUESTION: I have a couple more questions about the Palestinian issue, if I may. One, the Israelis are holding back on returning the bodies of Palestinians killed for whatever reason, but also the Palestinians are making some maybe wild claims that the Israelis are harvesting organs and so on. Have you heard anything about that? Was that brought to your attention --
MR KIRBY: I've seen the – I've seen some press coverage of comments to that effect. The only thing I would say – and you know, Said, I've tried to hold the line on this – I'm not going to get into parsing every word and every bit of rhetoric. What – I would just go back to what I've said before, is we want to see all inflammatory rhetoric on all sides stop so that we can get to a place where calm is restored and the violence is ended.
QUESTION: And finally, I have one last question. Seems that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a spokesman who has basically made allegations that the president – President Obama was anti-Semitic and so on. Is that something that you – I mean, do you have any comment on that?
MR KIRBY: Yeah, we've seen reports of Mr. Baratz's previous comments about U.S. officials. We understand those comments were made in his private capacity. His comments about U.S. officials, including the President and Secretary Kerry, we believe were troubling and offensive. We obviously expect government officials from any country, especially our closest allies, to speak respectfully and truthfully about senior U.S. government officials. The Secretary spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning, and we understand that the prime minister will be reviewing this appointment when he returns from his visit to the United States. And I would refer you to the Government of Israel for any additional comment.
QUESTION: That's an interesting response, given what your colleague at the White House had to say, which was basically we want to stay out of this and noted that the person in question had apologized for the remarks. Your colleague, Josh Earnest, said that they were aware of the apology and thought that an apology was fully warranted.
MR KIRBY: And we would agree, certainly.
QUESTION: Right. But are you suggesting that you would like to see him – by saying that you understand the prime minister is going to review this nomination, are you saying that you think that perhaps he should rescind the nomination, that it's a bad choice?
MR KIRBY: I didn't say – no, I didn't say that. I said that I'm – all I did was repeat what the prime minister told Secretary Kerry, which was it is his intention to review the appointment when he returns from the United States.
QUESTION: Right.
MR KIRBY: But I completely agree with Mr. Earnest and his characterization about the apology being warranted.
QUESTION: Did Secretary Kerry call Prime Minister Netanyahu specifically because of this appointment?
MR KIRBY: They – I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu initiated this particular call. I know this was a topic of it. I don't know – I can't say whether they discussed other issues.
QUESTION: This seems to be a recurring theme among minute members of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet.
MR KIRBY: Minute members?
QUESTION: Members --
MR KIRBY: Members.
QUESTION: -- of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet, making – by name – disparaging remarks about senior U.S. officials. Does this cause you any concern?
MR KIRBY: Well --
QUESTION: And conversely, does it cause you concern that there are – seem to be numerous American officials speaking on background who have been disparaging of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli government officials? Is this indicative of the poor state of relations between the two countries?
MR KIRBY: I don't have the history of every comment spoken by people on either side, but that aside, obviously name-calling and insults, certainly, aimed at individuals doesn't do anything to help advance and deepen the relationship, which is where Secretary Kerry wants it to go. And it was clear to him that that's where Prime Minister Netanyahu wants things to go, too. And so our focus is on that. But it's – we learn in kindergarten about name-calling, and it's simply not a polite thing to do. And it's certainly not helpful when you've got – excuse me – you got bigger fish to fry.
Sorry, my voice is going here.
QUESTION: It is going. But I'd say it's striking that you would say that, considering that that seems to be in itself a bit of name-calling, no? I mean, one of the things that the new Israeli spokesman has apologized for is saying that Secretary Kerry's – his – he's got the – a pre-teen – his thoughts are like a 12-year-old.
MR KIRBY: No, no, no.
QUESTION: Now you're talking about kindergarteners here.
MR KIRBY: I'm just talking about – it's a rule you learn when you're a very young child about the – about trying to avoid name-calling. And again, it's not helpful. But we're not focused on this, Matt.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR KIRBY: We're focused on the relationship and moving it forward. And the Secretary was grateful for the conversation he had with Prime Minister Netanyahu. And as far as we're concerned, we're looking forward to his visit here to the United States and to spending time working on issues that really do matter.
QUESTION: Right. Okay. So this chapter is closed as far as you're concerned?
MR KIRBY: As far as we're concerned, yeah.
QUESTION: Can I ask about the plane crash? I know this was discussed at the White House, but we'd like your take as well. Does the State Department share Prime Minister Cameron's assessment that it is "more likely than not" – and that's a quote – that a bomb brought down this aircraft?
MR KIRBY: We have not made a determination as to the cause of the crash, Justin.
QUESTION: Okay. Would you say you have any level of confidence or low confidence or high confidence? Can you get anywhere on the scale here about where you think this is headed? Is there a chance this was a bomb?
MR KIRBY: I can't get ahead and won't get ahead of investigations that have just started. And as I said yesterday, we want those investigations to proceed on course and come up with whatever conclusions they come up with based on the facts. So we are not in a position right now, Justin, to rule out anything or to rule in anything. And obviously, we have to consider the possibility – all possibilities, but the possibility that this could be the result of terrorist involvement. But we don't know that right now.
QUESTION: Is it true to say that there's no physical or forensic evidence so far that would suggest a bomb was involved?
MR KIRBY: I'm not privy to what the investigators have at their disposal in terms of evidence. So I – would be very inappropriate for me to say one way or the other.
QUESTION: And you haven't heard – you haven't heard anything about physical or forensic evidence. True?
MR KIRBY: I have no information about the investigation itself.
QUESTION: Has the U.S. offered or been requested in any way to send investigators to the crash site?
MR KIRBY: We have offered assistance to investigators. I'm not aware that there's been any acceptance of any U.S. help in this regard.
QUESTION: I'm sorry if I missed that. When was the offer – the assistance offered?
MR KIRBY: The assistance was offered nearly immediately after the crash and after initial calls to offer our condolences. In fact, coincident with those calls we made the offers to help in whatever way we could.
QUESTION: John, now we have an American contingent in Sinai. Are they in any way involved in this? I mean, could they be involved? There is an American force that is already there.
MR KIRBY: There are American participants in the --
QUESTION: In peacekeeping.
MR KIRBY: -- peacekeeping force there.
QUESTION: Right.
MR KIRBY: What do you – why --
QUESTION: My question is: Are they in any way – because they are nearby the scene, and so on, wouldn't it be logical for them to be somehow involved or aid in investigation?
MR KIRBY: I don't know how close they are to physical wreckage site, and that's not their job to do that. I'm aware of no plans or efforts to get them involved in any way in investigative efforts. Again, that's not their mission. Their mission is to help with the security and stability there on the Sinai Peninsula.
QUESTION: John --
QUESTION: Do you – I'm sorry, just the last one for me. Do you think that this incident, whether terrorism or not, will sharpen Vladimir Putin's attention on ISIS inside Syria?
MR KIRBY: That's a great question for Vladimir Putin. I couldn't possibly tell you how he is going to make decisions based on this crash. And again, I want to stress, Justin, we do not know, we have not made any determinations of our own, on what brought this airplane down. I also think – if you don't mind, I'll say it again – that we all need to – I know there's a press for information. I understand it's the big story and probably should be, but there are grieving families out there who, just like you, want answers. And it's important to let the investigators do their job to get them those answers.
QUESTION: Have you expressed that opinion to the British, who are basically declaring it a terrorist attack?
MR KIRBY: I think the British very much share the same sense of sympathy and concern for the families here that are suffering. They also have – and this is not news – they have significant concerns of their own given that British carriers fly out of Sharm el-Sheikh, and of course, we don't. So they have significant security concerns of their own that they have to address and that are of interest to the British people.
QUESTION: Yes, please. Regarding the same issue?
MR KIRBY: Sure.
QUESTION: Yes. First of all, is there any official Travel Warning or – related to the embassy or from State Department regarding Sharm el-Sheikh?
MR KIRBY: Well, we talked about this yesterday, that the embassy in Cairo back in July issued --
QUESTION: That --
MR KIRBY: -- a Travel Warning to the Sinai and then updated again in September, and then on the 2nd of November after this crash issued a directive to embassy employees not to travel to the Sinai. And as we have to do, we – when we make a directive like that to U.S. Government employees, we have to also inform the public so that they can factor that information and context into whatever travel plans they might have. So our embassy in Cairo has been very – following this very, very closely, not just the – since the crash, but the situation in the Sinai. And we talked about this yesterday, too, that our concern about terrorist elements in Sinai is longstanding, which is why, going all the way back to July of – there was a security message put out.
QUESTION: And so just a clarification about the – I'll try to clarify – if you can clarify. Did you offer technical help to the investigators, or what kind of offer was --
MR KIRBY: The offer was broad. It was – it was an honest, very open offer of whatever U.S. assistance might be desired to investigators. It wasn't conditional. It wasn't specific. We didn't give them a menu of things that they could pick from. The Secretary simply made it very clear that whatever we could do to help that they would find desirable and helpful that we'd be willing to chip in. And again, there's been no request for U.S. assistance.
QUESTION: So it's like they didn't ask, or they reject? I mean, what was --
MR KIRBY: The offer has been extended. It has not yet --
QUESTION: And not responded – response?
MR KIRBY: There's been no – there has been no request. This is not uncommon, I mean, for the U.S. to raise its hand and to offer help in all kinds of things, not just mishaps and accidents and crashes like this but even humanitarian assistance and disaster relief issues. And sometimes our help is desired and asked for and relied upon and sometimes it's not, but we're not bashful about offering it.
QUESTION: So the last question is just – is – do you – from your – I mean, are you aware of any Americans are – or group of Americans are now in Sharm el-Sheikh or not?
MR KIRBY: I have no information about specific Americans which may or may not be anywhere near Sharm el-Sheikh. As I said, the only thing I know of and that can say is that there was a small military contingent as part of this peacekeeping operation, but yeah.
QUESTION: But that's – it's another place.
MR KIRBY: Yeah. But I don't know – I just don't – I don't know and we don't have any method of tracking the presence of U.S. citizens everywhere around the globe. We – what we do and what we've done in this case, well before this crash, was provide information that traveling Americans should have and could use to make whatever plans they intended to make.
QUESTION: The Brits are saying that their flights will resume tomorrow out of Sharm. They apparently have had discussions about security that they feel are now adequate with the Egyptians, so what does that mean? Is the U.S. considering lifting its ban on – its travel ban for personnel in the region as well or is that --
MR KIRBY: I know of no such plans to change our – the security messages that we have in place. I can't speak to what you obviously just saw the British decide to do. That's for them to speak to. And I know – and as for anything else regarding U.S. aviation – civil aviation, I'd refer you to the FAA.
Yeah.
QUESTION: Just to go back to these sort of statements by the Israeli prime minister's media advisor, I mean, one post was about building a third Jewish temple in the al-Aqsa compound. So I mean, his is to basically improve the Israeli Government's image around the world, and his past is basically supporting building a third temple. During the conversation between the Secretary and Prime Minister Netanyahu, did that ever come up? I mean, can you give more detail about how somebody who sort of said these things which can inflame tensions between Israelis and Palestinians could be chosen for such a role like this?
MR KIRBY: I don't really think I can add to my comments before. I said we found the comments that he made in the past in a private capacity – we have found those troubling and offensive. We've noted that an apology – we've said we believe that that was warranted. I've also noted that the prime minister himself said that he would be reviewing the appointment upon his return to the United States. This is for Prime Minister Netanyahu to decide, obviously, and we respect that. But I don't know that I could add anything more to what I've said in answer to Matt's question with respect to his comments.
QUESTION: Can I just --
QUESTION: Well – but on the – what you said were troubling and offensive were his comments about President Obama and Secretary Kerry, not necessarily – are you saying that the comments that he made about a third temple --
MR KIRBY: We certainly --
QUESTION: -- are also troubling and offensive? Because that's the kind of talk that has – that the Secretary was referring to – at least some of it – on the Israeli side --
MR KIRBY: Right.
QUESTION: -- when he talked about inflammatory rhetoric, things that he --
MR KIRBY: Certainly, those comments too are troubling and not in keeping with the kind of future we want to see for the holy sites and for Jerusalem. So obviously, we certainly don't associate ourselves with comments like that. But look, this is an issue for Prime Minister Netanyahu to deal with.
Yes.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: Can we go to Bahrain? Bahrain?
MR KIRBY: You guys decide.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: Syria.
QUESTION: Very quickly on Bahrain because it's you're – it's a country that you're allied with. And today the – a court sentenced five Bahraini Shias to prison, stripped them of their citizenship, and so on under accusations that they had some sort of conversation with Iran, without presenting any evidence. Does that trouble you? I mean, does that in any way --
MR KIRBY: I haven't seen that report, Said.
QUESTION: Would you look into this and see what would be the United States position in this case?
MR KIRBY: Can you repeat it again?
QUESTION: Well, a Bahraini court sentenced five Bahraini Shias to prison, lengthy prison sentences; stripped them of their citizenship, Bahraini citizenship, because they allege that they had conversations with Iran. We don't know the nature of that conversation and so on. But this is part of a pattern that the Bahraini Government is conducting against – which is a majority, basically, a majority population of Shias. So would you look into it and see what your position would be?
MR KIRBY: Yeah, Said. I just – I haven't seen that report and so I don't want to speculate on something that I can't confirm the veracity of. But our position on human rights in Bahrain has been longstanding. We've talked about it here from this podium. Obviously, we still have some concerns there about human rights in Bahrain and freedom of expression, association, and all that kind of thing. So let me take the question and get back to you.
QUESTION: Can you also look into – the UN working group on arbitrary detention has released a report about the detention of the Bahraini opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman. They found him to be arbitrarily detained and called for his immediate release and compensated. Do you have any --
MR KIRBY: I don't, Matt.
QUESTION: -- reaction to that? Could you --
MR KIRBY: I don't – you're going to have to let me --
QUESTION: -- see if there is one?
MR KIRBY: You'll have to let me check on that for you.
Ma'am.
QUESTION: U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson said at a hearing in the House on Wednesday up to 90 percent of Russian strikes in Syria have hit the moderate Syrian opposition. During the same hearing she said, quote, "The Nusrah Front, which is an al-Qaida affiliate, has absorbed the various moderate groups, have absorbed a number of what we would previously call the moderate opposition," end of quote.
How certain are you of this definition of moderate Syrian opposition when you have such migration from moderates to terrorists?
MR KIRBY: Say that last part again about al-Nusrah?
QUESTION: How certain --
MR KIRBY: No, no, no. She said --
QUESTION: Yes. So, quote, "The Nusrah Front, which is an al-Qaida affiliate, has absorbed the various moderate groups, have absorbed a number of what we would previously call the moderate opposition."
MR KIRBY: Okay, I got you. Yeah. Well, we certainly agree completely with what Assistant Secretary Patterson said and we've talked about this before a couple of ways. The opposition groups, as you know, are not all united. They don't all share the same goals. Membership is a fluid thing. It's not like they all carry identification cards and have matching ties and that kind of thing. And people do kind of come and go.
And we have seen that over the course of the last year some moderates become extreme. One of the things that so deeply concerns us about ISIL and its ability to stay resilient is the resilience itself of the ideology and the attractiveness of it. And it shouldn't be farfetched to anyone that a fighter in Syria, a member of an opposition group, could find him or herself attracted to this ideology. It doesn't mean we like to see that. Obviously, we don't. But it is something of concern, I mean, when young middle-class or upper-class, educated, young people in Europe who have bright futures ahead of them are – find themselves – actually, not just Europe, all around the world, even here in the United States – some of them find themselves attracted to this bitter, ugly ideology and to this fight. So if it can happen to people in Europe and the United States and Australia, it shouldn't come as a shock to anybody that it could happen to people on the ground there in Syria.
QUESTION: But --
MR KIRBY: Again, not that we turn a blind eye to it – hang on a second.
QUESTION: Sure.
MR KIRBY: Not that we turn a blind eye to it or that it's not important, but we recognize that it happened. We don't believe – and I think her comment bears this out – that it's happening to the great majority of moderate opposition fighters. It happens to some. We understand that. It also doesn't mean that we're going to turn our back on supporting those fighters in Syria who are proving effective at going after ISIL. We are – we still have every intention of supporting them – in fact, increasing our support to them.
QUESTION: You used the word "fluid," and yet the U.S. assigns a certain percentage to Russian strikes, which indicates that the U.S. knows for certain who is who on the ground. Is that the case?
MR KIRBY: We have a very good idea. I mean, if your question is that certain individuals from an opposition group find themselves attracted to ISIL or al-Nusrah and become extreme and go fight with them, that – there's a pretty long leap you're making there if you're saying that we're seeing some individual fighters become extreme to it's so fluid and so mixed that we have no idea who's where and who's doing what.
QUESTION: I will explain what's confusing about – on the other – on the one hand, U.S. officials sound very definitive and certain when they talk about who Russia is targeting. On the other hand, we hear U.S. officials say, "Oh, it's so difficult to identify who moderate Syrian rebels are." We've heard Ash Carter testify to that effect, Joseph Biden spoke about that, Anne Patterson is talking about moderates migrating to terrorists. U.S. officials have actually been critical of this definition of moderate Syrian opposition. But the label suddenly becomes solid when the conversation is about Russia. How can U.S. officials be so certain and so doubtful about the same thing at the same time?
MR KIRBY: Well, I'd take issue with your implication that we don't know and that we're somehow conflating the two. We're not. I think you are. The fact that there are some opposition members that become extreme is not a new idea. We've been talking about this for more than a year, okay? It doesn't mean that the opposition groups still don't exist. It doesn't mean that we don't have an idea of where they are and what they're doing, because obviously, we're supporting them, in some cases with airstrikes against ISIL. So we have a pretty good idea of who we can work with on the ground and who we can't, and who we can support and who we probably shouldn't. Otherwise we wouldn't have been doing more than 2,000 airstrikes in Syria, and we wouldn't be committed to increasing support to counter ISIL fighters on the ground in Syria.
So we have a very good idea. We also have a very good idea of where Russian military aircraft are conducting their strikes and who they are targeting. And it is 80 to 90 percent against opposition groups. There's – there – the two are perfectly distinct and clear, and we're just as sure about both.
QUESTION: Several months ago, Ash Carter --
MR KIRBY: I'm going to give you one more shot. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you. Several months ago, Ash Carter said it is difficult to – about the training and equipping program, it is difficult to identify people with --
MR KIRBY: Right. That's exactly right. But that's a completely different issue.
QUESTION: What has – has it suddenly become easier to identify them and find them?
MR KIRBY: There's been no change in terms of our knowledge of who we think we can work with on the ground and who we can't in terms of supporting their fight against ISIL. You're talking about a train and equip program that was vetting individuals. So now, once again, you're taking an aggregate discussion about groups and where they are and what they're doing against ISIL, and you want to boil it all down to individuals. And I'm just challenging --
QUESTION: It does boil down to individuals.
MR KIRBY: -- I'm challenging the premise of your entire question, which I just think is bogus. These are individuals, and we did admit to having problems in vetting certain individuals. But we're talking about groups and groups that are in the fight against ISIL. And yeah, we have a pretty good idea of who they are, where they are, and what they're doing. Does it mean that even those groups may have one or two or a dozen guys splinter off out of frustration or fear or intimidation and go fight and become extreme with ISIL or al-Nusrah? Yeah, that sometimes happens. It's a very fluid situation there.
But let me make it perfectly clear. We know exactly where Russian military aircraft are operating and we know exactly what they're hitting, and they are not spending anywhere near the bulk of their time against ISIL. And if they want to do that, if that's a desire, if that's where they want to go, then, as I've said before, the United States stands ready to have that conversation with them.
QUESTION: And you know exactly where the moderate Syrian rebels are?
QUESTION: John --
QUESTION: Are you telling the Russians who – where they are?
MR KIRBY: I think I've dealt – I think I've dealt with your line of questioning.
QUESTION: Are you giving that information to the Russians?
MR KIRBY: We know where they are, we know who they're fighting.
QUESTION: Are you telling Russia about this, "Don't hit, this is where they are?"
MR KIRBY: There's no coordination with the Russian military in Syria. We've talked about this before as well. It exists at a de-confliction level – tactical – so that professional airmanship can be observed and we have – and there's safety of flight.
QUESTION: But what prevents --
MR KIRBY: But there's no coordination.
QUESTION: What prevents the U.S. from telling Russia, "Here is where the moderate Syrian rebels are, don't hit them," or whatever?
MR KIRBY: Well – well, it's difficult to get to that level of discussion, it's difficult to agree on those kinds of things like sharing information, actual information, when you don't share outcomes. And it's clear that from a military perspective, we do not share the same outcome with Russia on ISIL. You can't get there from where we are today.
Ma'am? Nicole.
QUESTION: Oh. Thank you. I just wanted to ask if, in the days since the Metrojet crash, you've seen any shift at all in Russian targeting in Syria; if there's any increase in their efforts to actually target Islamic State.
MR KIRBY: Not that I'm aware of, no.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR KIRBY: Yes.
QUESTION: Yes --
QUESTION: Can we try and cut to the chase on one thing here, back to the question that she was asking before? Is the reason that you don't want to share the information about where the moderate groups are with the Russians – is the reason because you think that the Russians will then bomb them --
MR KIRBY: I think – I think --
QUESTION: -- and not avoid them? Is that why?
MR KIRBY: I think watching, I think seeing what they've been doing and where they've been hitting answers your question.
QUESTION: So in other words, you think – or you won't share this information because you think that instead of avoiding them, the Russians will target them. Is that correct?
MR KIRBY: What I would say is we're – you can't get to a situation where you're sharing information and intelligence when you clearly do not share the same outcome militarily inside Syria.
QUESTION: The other day, a question arose, where the information was coming from about Russian – Russia hitting hospitals, et cetera. And I got – I did get a list of NGOs that you guys say – or believe have given credible reports about medical facilities being hit. Those include Physicians for Human Rights, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Syrian American Medical Society, and Doctors Without Borders. Is that pretty much – I mean, this was given to me off-camera and offline by email. Is that your understanding, those are some – at least some of the groups that – whose reporting you're relying on or that you use?
MR KIRBY: At least some, yes, but it's not the full total sum of the information that we have at our disposal.
QUESTION: I want to focus on one. Have you seen the Doctors Without Borders internal report on the attack on the Kunduz hospital, which says that the – there were no armed people inside the facility and that some people were shot from the helicopter gunship while fleeing the facility?
MR KIRBY: I have not seen the report, Matt --
QUESTION: Have you heard of it?
MR KIRBY: -- but I am aware of it. I believe DOD has issued a statement about it. They're reviewing it. They intend to use it as part of their investigation to help inform their investigation as it continues. And I think they noted that General Campbell himself has met with officials from Doctors Without Borders as recently as just a few days ago --
QUESTION: Right, but you --
MR KIRBY: -- to discuss how his investigation is proceeding.
QUESTION: Okay. My question is: You regard that report, their internal – their report that they did as credible?
MR KIRBY: As I said, they just issued it, and DOD is reviewing it. So I'm not in a position to give it a homework grade right now, but we obviously take it seriously given that it was their hospital and their people, and so we're – and we're going to consider it seriously. But again, DOD's looking at it right now.
QUESTION: Okay. The reason I ask is because there has been a tendency in the past for the U.S. Government in various administrations to kind of pick and choose which reports it wants to accept as credible and reliable by the same – by the same organizations. Clearly, I'm asking about MSF in this case, but it's happened with Human Rights Watch, it's happened with Amnesty International. Would you regard the credibility of the MSF report on Kunduz as the same or as credible as the reporting that they have done from Syria about the hospital target?
MR KIRBY: I'm not in a position to make that call, Matt. And as I said, going back to the real crux, I think, of the question, we get information from lots of sources, and it's not just from outside groups. We have to take these claims by outside groups seriously. That doesn't mean we necessarily will come to the same conclusions over time after a review of them, but we don't dismiss them out of hand. And I am in no position to say that we take one report from one group more credibly than another report from the same group. We take them all in, we review them, we check them against the information that we also have using a variety of sources, and then we make our own decisions based on that.
But in a situation like in Syria where you don't have eyes on the ground necessarily of your own, it's incumbent upon you – I think it would be irresponsible not – to consider and to take under review observations made by groups that are there on the ground, even those with whom you may not agree on every single matter or may not pan out to be 100 percent accurate all the time.
Ma'am.
QUESTION: May I change topics to Myanmar?
QUESTION: Oh, can I go back to – just one more (inaudible) please.
MR KIRBY: I was very patient with you. I gave you four follow-ups.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR KIRBY: You're welcome.
QUESTION: And --
QUESTION: One more --
MR KIRBY: Back to you.
QUESTION: Can I --
QUESTION: So --
QUESTION: -- please --
QUESTION: But no, I have a question.
QUESTION: Myanmar. There's just days to the --
MR KIRBY: Well that's – look at that.
QUESTION: I mean, I (inaudible).
MR KIRBY: I think we have just changed our topics. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: There are just days to the election to November 8th – historical election in Myanmar. I wonder if there is any plan from the government to send observers to monitor the election, in particular, early voting process in the military compounds.
MR KIRBY: What I can tell you is U.S. Ambassador Derek Mitchell, embassy staff, USAID Assistant Administrator Jon Stivers, and congressional staffers will be observing and monitoring throughout the election. Our embassy continues to coordinate closely with representatives from international observation missions, including the European Union, the Carter Center, and the Asian Network for Free Elections. I'd also note that the United States has provided elections monitoring, training, and support to civil society organizations there, which will field 5,000 independent nonpartisan electoral advisors. And we continue to urge the Government of Burma to allow observes to access advance voting in the military compounds.
QUESTION: One other problem facing the election --
MR KIRBY: You got a big voice for a little person.
QUESTION: I try very well. I try my best. One of the problem to conduct the election is the Myanmar's election commission has not finalized a voters lists. Do you have any comment on that?
MR KIRBY: Has finalized the --
QUESTION: The voters list.
MR KIRBY: I don't know that I – I have – I've seen that report. Let me take that question.
QUESTION: Okay. In your view --
QUESTION: Can I follow up on Myanmar?
MR KIRBY: Okay.
QUESTION: Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday said that she would be above the president, which is unconstitutional. Would the U.S. support that? I mean, what's your view on her saying she would be above the president if her party won?
MR KIRBY: I haven't seen a comment made by her to be above the president, but let me just say there's many hypothetical scenarios here and I'm not going to prejudge any outcomes. Right now we're focused on ensuring that the conduct and outcome of the elections are as credible, transparent, and as inclusive as possible. The United States, along with many others in the international community, has been closely monitoring the elections preparations and the campaign period, which I've been advised has been very robust in terms of campaigning, and we're going to continue to closely observe the elections when they occur on the 8th of November.
We're also going to closely monitor the process that will lead to the formation of a new government, and we will continue to emphasize the importance that key Burmese political institutions respect the outcome of that process.
QUESTION: John, on Mexico --
QUESTION: Turkey.
QUESTION: Can I make a question on Mexico? Mexico is the source of most of the marijuana coming from abroad to the States. Yesterday the Mexican supreme court opened the door to legalizing recreational marijuana in Mexico. How can this impact U.S.-Mexico crime cooperation? And considering also that the prime minister of Canada now, Mr. Trudeau, has said that he would push for legalizing recreational marijuana also in that country?
MR KIRBY: Well, as you've heard me say many times, it's up to the people of each nation to decide policies. And in this case, it's up to the people of Mexico to decide which drug policies are most appropriate for their country within the framework of international law. That said, our focus is on – in Mexico is to strengthen our law enforcement partnership and build Mexican capacity to combat drug trafficking and the violence that we know it breeds. We are firmly committed to the three UN drug conventions and our work with international partners to promote the goals of those conventions. These conventions are the foundation of international cooperation for dealing with all aspects of the drug problem. We support them unwaveringly. And I'd also note that the conventions allow for a degree of flexibility on how member-states implement their obligations, particularly with respect to drug use, and the conventions anticipate variations in national legal frameworks.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: One – one question. Just one quick.
MR KIRBY: Okay. This is it. Last one.
QUESTION: Thank you. Also from this – from the hearing yesterday. I was going to – Victoria Nuland has said that the U.S. is concerned that Russian and Iranian weapons are going to end up in the hands of Hizballah. Are you worried that U.S. weapons end up in the hands of ISIL and al-Nusrah? And also, is the U.S. investigating reports that this weekend U.S. weapons, including antitank missiles, ended up – have fallen into the hands of al-Nusrah in Jabal al-Zawiya, Idlib province, as they reportedly seized control of – the report says large swaths of land. Have you – are you investigating that?
MR KIRBY: You didn't even breath in that whole question. I never heard a breath. You just went right through it. (Laughter.) That's really good.
Look, we already know that some U.S. weapons have ended up in the wrong hands – in ISIL hands in Iraq and that they've transported some of that stuff into Syria – vehicles. I mean, large vehicles. I mean, you don't have to go very far. Turn on CNN and you'll see old B-roll footage from time to time of them zorching around in our MRAPS and our Humvees.
QUESTION: And Toyotas.
MR KIRBY: Well, they're not – as far as I know, they didn't get their Toyotas from us. But we know that that's already happened. When they came and took Mosul back in the summer, they came away with a lot of what had been U.S.-produced equipment that had been sold or given to the nation of Iraq. So it has happened. And we're always mindful of the danger of U.S. arms and materiel ending up in the wrong hands, and we go to great lengths when we are providing that to try to put in measures to safeguard it from happening. But it's a very difficult problem to shut down. And it's not something that you can say with certainty you're always going to be able to prevent, but it is something that we're very concerned about and that we factor into whatever assistance programs we put in place.
And so our concerns about the possibility of Russian and Iranian arms getting into the hands of Hizballah are well founded, because we've seen it happen to some of our gear. The difference is we believe we take that concern more seriously than do some other countries, and that we do have measures in place and we work hard to try to limit its effect. And I think that's the concern. But yes, Assistant Secretary Nuland has every right to be concerned about that as a possibility, because we know that it's certainly real.
Yeah.
QUESTION: Just one more on Syria.
QUESTION: Same topic on the --
QUESTION: Yeah, Syria. So today – I hope this is not a Pentagon question. A spokesman for the CENTCOM in Baghdad repeated that the weapons you are delivering to the Syrian opposition are going to the Arab – Syrian Arab opposition, not the Syrian Kurdish opposition. I just wonder why to make this kind of ethnic distinction when you provide weapons, because some people in the region are already seen that way. Why don't you specify, say we provide weapons to this specific group, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, and not to that specific group?
MR KIRBY: This is a question for the Defense Department to speak to in terms of who they're providing direct arms to, not for me to speak to. We've said before that we're going to continue to support those counter-ISIL fighters on the ground who are effective at going after ISIL, and that support will continue. As for the nomenclature and how that's being described, I'd point you to DOD to speak to that.
Yeah.
QUESTION: Yes, please. Regarding the diplomatic front of Syria, a week ago there was this meeting in Vienna, and in the last few days all the talk is about operations on the ground. Is there any – are there any steps taken regarding the diplomatic front, any political solution, any contacts were made between those 20 countries in the last few days?
MR KIRBY: There have been – I certainly expect that there have been. I know the Secretary has had many discussions with – bilaterally with other participants since the conclusion of that meeting last week, and I suspect other participants are likewise having similar conversations. I'm not aware of any large multilateral gatherings since Vienna that I'm aware of. But --
QUESTION: Any specific steps take in the future, timeline or something like that?
MR KIRBY: Well, look, as I said before, this is a – you're going to see a series of discussions and meetings. There's going to be another one. The Secretary talked about this last week. There'll be another large multilateral gathering to discuss the framework, getting at the framework for a political transition in Syria. I suspect that you'll see that happen fairly soon. I don't have anything to announce today, but I know there will be another similar format in the near future. What all the participants have done since they left Vienna, I can't speak to that. They would have to speak to that.
QUESTION: What U.S. did?
MR KIRBY: We have – we continue to talk with participants. Since he left Vienna, the Secretary has been very active, mostly on the phone, with some of those participants. I think that – those discussions will continue, leading to the next round of meetings. But if you're asking me, coming out of Vienna, do we have the plan now, the answer is no, of course not. And it's going to take a little while to get there. We've talked about that. I mean, you've got – you had 19 participants in there, difficult to get 19 clocks to chime at the same time. And that's really the goal here, is to try to get to a consensus view in the international community of what a political transition – one that can be sustained and can be enduring and inclusive, what that can look like. And they're going to start – they have started to try to build a sense of consensus to that end. But we're not there yet, and it's going to take a lot more time.
QUESTION: So just to be more specific, is the next meeting is going to be initiated by the UN or by whom?
MR KIRBY: We seem to be getting hung up on invitations, and I don't know why that is. This is a multilateral discussion from the very beginning, and it will be multilateral all the way to the end. There isn't, like, a party planning committee here that is putting together the guest lists and the silverware for it. There will be many discussions by many of the participants about the next round of discussions. I don't have anything to tell you now in terms of when and where that's going to be. But I can tell you that there will be one in the near future, and there will probably be --
QUESTION: More.
MR KIRBY: -- more following that. And as I said before, the agenda items and the participation is all – it's all being discussed collaboratively and collegially by many participants as we move forward. So whatever the participation looks like in the next meeting, I can assure you that it will be as a result of a consensus discussion and decision by everybody there.
Does that make sense? Okay, I've got time for maybe one --
QUESTION: On Turkey?
MR KIRBY: No, you've already had yours.
QUESTION: But I have a question --
MR KIRBY: No, I --
QUESTION: Just one more on Turkey.
MR KIRBY: I haven't even called on Abby yet. Go ahead, Abby.
QUESTION: This came up in the hearing yesterday as well. But is there any more information on reports of Russian aircraft smuggling Iranian weapons inside of Syria or actions the U.S. might take regarding those reports?
MR KIRBY: Well, we've long spoken, I think, Abby, to how Iran's activities in Syria and now Russia's are prolonging the civil conflict, enabling Assad to further attack his own people. In terms of Iranian arms transfers into Syria, we have imposed targeted sanctions on the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security for their support for the Assad regime. And in addition to – in addition, arms exports from Iran are prohibited under UN Security Council Resolution 1747. We'll be looking into these reports that you've brought up. We're certainly going to be looking into them. And if Russia is found to be facilitating those transfers, we're going to raise that in the appropriate channels both bilaterally and at the UN if warranted. I don't have any discussions to read out to you. Again, we're still looking into these reports.
I've got – all right, one more. You, way in the back there.
QUESTION: Yes, thank you. I have a question. There are reports in Athens, in Nicosia, and Ankara that the Secretary is going to these three countries – Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus – on 12, 13 and 14th. Do you have anything to tell us on this? (Laughter.)
MR KIRBY: I don't. No, I don't have any travel for the Secretary to announce today. But as always, when we do have information about his travels, you'll be the first to hear it. Thanks.
QUESTION: Now, hold on. Before we finish this, can you – would you like to address a report this morning and last week that State Department computers have – or emails – officials at the State Department and elsewhere in the Administration have been attacked by malware from Iran as a result of the latest – the confiscation by Iranian authorities of this Iranian American's laptop?
MR KIRBY: The only thing I would say – I don't have anything to say specifically to – about those reports, Matt. But obviously, we take cyber security very, very seriously. It's – we've talked about it many times here that we know our systems are constantly probed and in some cases attacked by malicious actors all over the world. And so we take all of those things very, very seriously. I don't have anything specific on this particular report to discuss.
QUESTION: In recent weeks, has there been any kind of a surge or uptick in these kinds of attacks regardless of where they're coming from? Are you aware?
MR KIRBY: We suffer attempted intrusions every single day, and I am not aware of any particular spike in terms of numbers. We're obviously very careful about the level of detail that we talk about this publicly, but it's something that we deal with, regrettably, every single day.
QUESTION: So there has – you're not aware of a spike in numbers. How about a spike in attempts on people who deal with Iran or Near East or Middle East affairs in general?
MR KIRBY: I wouldn't want to get into publicly talking about the nature of the attempted intrusions or the – or the likely specific targets of it here in the building. For security reasons I think you can understand why that wouldn't be something we'd want to talk about publicly. But it is something we're very mindful of and we track as closely as we can, and it's just a constant, daily reminder of the dangers in the cyber realm and how we're trying to take it seriously.
QUESTION: Okay, let me try one more time. Are you aware of any particular heightened concern in recent weeks?
MR KIRBY: We are always concerned about cyber security.
QUESTION: Yeah. But are you aware of any particular height – is the – has there been, for example, a warning or a notice sent out to, well, State Department employees that there is an additional risk, that in recent weeks there has been --
MR KIRBY: I'm not aware of any such notice. This is something we're always dealing with.
QUESTION: I understand.
MR KIRBY: I have nothing --
QUESTION: These reports are pretty specific tying a spike in this kind of thing to a particular incident. And I'm wondering if that is – if there's anything to that. And if there is, one would think that there would have been some kind of a notice that went out to people who – you're not aware of any notice. Does that mean there wasn't one?
MR KIRBY: I have --
QUESTION: You would know if there was, correct?
MR KIRBY: As an employee of the State Department, I probably would be aware. I've been made aware of no such notices.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR KIRBY: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:08 p.m.)
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