U.S.: Arming Assad 'morally bankrupt'

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Any country providing military help to Syrian President Bashar Assad is "morally bankrupt," a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said Friday.

Victoria Nuland responded to questions about a Syrian plane examined after it stopped in Turkey that appeared to be carrying Russian military equipment. She acknowledged there are no U.N. sanctions in place because Russia and China have blocked them in the Security Council.

"The policy's still morally bankrupt," she said.

Nuland declined to apply the term to Russia.

"We are saying, as we have been saying for almost a year now, that no responsible country ought to be aiding and abetting the war machine of the Assad regime," she said.