Turkey's Erdogan denounces US support for Syrian Kurds

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24. State Dept. Envoy Brett McGurk: Aleppo Onslaught Sparking 'Catastrophe'

A top State Department official told Congress Wednesday that an attempt by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces to encircle the city of Aleppo is causing "a humanitarian catastrophe" — but officials and outside experts tell NBC News the U.S. is not prepared to take military steps to stop it.

Brett McGurk, the State Department official coordinating the effort against ISIS, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that military moves by the Assad regime, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian logistical support, have created a flood of refugees that is "unacceptable."

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Landis predicted that Assad's forces would encircle and then bomb Aleppo, and that there is little the U.S. can do about it.

"The instinct is to want to go in and save these people, but if you don't have a political solution you're not saving anybody," he said. "You're just prolonging a civil war."

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/state-dept-envoy-brad-mcgurk-aleppo-onslaught-sparking-catastrophe-n515941