Free Republic

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby offered a weak initial response on Tuesday to the Russian attack that forced down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. Kirby said he expected the State Department would ‘reach out and expressly and directly make our concerns known about this incident with Russian officials.’ Kirby did say the attack would not deter U.S. flights over the Black Sea, but did not mention any U.S. response. Kirby also said that Joe Biden, out in California, had been briefed Tuesday morning on the incident by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, but...

Secretary of State John Kerry and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stood shoulder-to-shoulder today to say the two countries are united in their belief that Syrian President Bashir al-Assad must be punished for unleashing chemical weapons on his own people. "This is our chance to join together and pursue accountability over appeasement. We in the United States know and our French partners know that this is not the time to be silent spectators to slaughter," Kerry said. "What we are talking about is standing together and speaking with one voice in opposition to a clear violation of a red line...