Syrian President Assad has spoken out on the uninvited U.S. escalation of military forces in Syria:
“Any foreign troops coming to Syria without our invitation or consultation or permission, they are invaders, whether they are American, Turkish, or any other one,” Assad said. “And we don’t think this is going to help. What are they going to do? To fight ISIS? The Americans lost nearly every war. They lost in Iraq, they had to withdraw at the end. Even in Somalia, let alone Vietnam in the past and Afghanistan, your neighboring country. They didn’t succeed anywhere they sent troops, they only create a mess; they are very good in creating problems and destroying, but they are very bad in finding solutions.”
Now that the Syrian forces have made headway against Wahabi inspired terrorists in Aleppo and elsewhere, they are going to make Raqqa a priority: “We are very close to Raqqa now. Yesterday, our troops reached the Euphrates River, which is very close to Raqqa city, and Raqqa is the stronghold of ISIS today, so it’s going to be a priority for us.” This does not mean an attack is imminent. “Assad said that whether he attacked Raqqa or just blocked the supply routes, ‘it has the same result'”.
Assad did not rule out cooperation with the U.S. if the U.S. would use its air power in conjunction with Syrian forces on the ground, as the Russians have done. Assad said that mere local or one-off raids did not beat ISIS and/or terrorism, whereas a comprehensive approach has been working in Syria.
The U.S. has sanctions on Syria and cut diplomatic relations 5 years ago, so that Trump-Assad cooperation is extremely unlikely. Trump moved in on Syria without any public signs of changing the U.S. view of Syria as an enemy.
1:09 pm on March 11, 2017
