US Vice President Joe Biden kicked off a West Asia tour on Monday, vowing that the United States and its allies would “squeeze the heart” and destroy the ISIS group.
Biden spoke before several hundred US airmen as drones rolled the down the runway at the Al-Dhafra Air Base, a major desert outpost near the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi.
The Emirates is one of the most important US military and political allies in the Persian Gulf. It is also a major commercial hub that includes the business-friendly port city of Dubai.
“We have to squeeze the heart of Daesh in Iraq and Syria so they can’t continue to pump their poison in the region and around the world,” Biden said, using an Arabic acronym for IS, a militant group he dismissed as “criminals and cowards.”
The base hosts American and other aircraft taking part in operations against the IS group in Iraq and Syria, a point Biden noted as he rallied the assembled troops.
“You control the skies over Iraq and Syria and as a matter of fact, you control the skies over the whole damn world,” Biden said, drawing cheers.
The Emirates is the first stop on a regional tour that will also take in Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. His wife, Jill, is accompanying him.
The trip will include talks on US economic and energy interests, as well as security concerns about Iran and Syria, the White House said.
Earlier in the day, Biden visited Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, pausing outside to remove his black dress shoes in keeping with Islamic custom.
He examined a wall in the ornate mosque bearing the 99 names of God written in Arabic before stepping outside to wave at visiting tourists kept a short distance away.