President Obama isn't willing to choose between ISIS and Assad
During a press conference in Malaysia, President Obama told reporters that getting rid of ISIS will not get rid of Syria’s main problem, President Bashar al-Assad.
The president stated that Assad’s actions against the Syrian people have made him an unwanted person in the country and that the Syrian civil war won’t end if Assad remains the country’s president.
President Obama is quoted as saying, “As a practical matter, it is not conceivable that Mr. Assad can regain legitimacy in a country in which a large majority of that country despises Assad and will not stop fighting so long as he’s in power, which means that the civil war perpetuates itself.”
Assad’s position as the president of Syria has made it difficult for the U.S. and Russia to come to an agreement about the best path forward in order to stabilize Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly supports Assad, and has been instrumental in keeping the Syrian president in power.
Russia is supplying Syria with military arms and has, along with China, blocked several sanctions the UN Security Council attempted to place on Assad.
The disagreement between the U.S. and Russia concerning Assad is making it difficult for the U.S. and its allies to fight the war against ISIS, which has taken over large portions of Syria and Iraq.
Since Russia’s entry into the war, Russia has launched a series of attacks targeting ISIS and the U.S. backed Syrian opposition groups who are fighting ISIS and Assad.
President Obama told reporters that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit about his strategy to defeat ISIS and the need to remove Assad from power.
President Obama said that he made it clear to Putin that he needs to get his priorities straight and shift his attention towards the group that downed the Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula.
Putin agrees that ISIS is a problem and that there needs to be a “political transition process” after the Syrian war has ended.
However, Putin is not in support of removing Assad from power. President Obama said that it is not reasonable for him to remove ISIS while agreeing to leave Assad in place.
President Obama told reporters, “Even if I were to cynically say that my priority is ISIL and not removing Assad regardless of the terrible things that he’s done to his people, the United States could not stop the fighting in Syria by those who are opposed to Assad’s rule.”
The president stated that Assad’s actions against the Syrian people have made him an unwanted person in the country and that the Syrian civil war won’t end if Assad remains the country’s president.
President Obama is quoted as saying, “As a practical matter, it is not conceivable that Mr. Assad can regain legitimacy in a country in which a large majority of that country despises Assad and will not stop fighting so long as he’s in power, which means that the civil war perpetuates itself.”
Assad’s position as the president of Syria has made it difficult for the U.S. and Russia to come to an agreement about the best path forward in order to stabilize Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly supports Assad, and has been instrumental in keeping the Syrian president in power.
Russia is supplying Syria with military arms and has, along with China, blocked several sanctions the UN Security Council attempted to place on Assad.
The disagreement between the U.S. and Russia concerning Assad is making it difficult for the U.S. and its allies to fight the war against ISIS, which has taken over large portions of Syria and Iraq.
Since Russia’s entry into the war, Russia has launched a series of attacks targeting ISIS and the U.S. backed Syrian opposition groups who are fighting ISIS and Assad.
President Obama told reporters that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit about his strategy to defeat ISIS and the need to remove Assad from power.
President Obama said that he made it clear to Putin that he needs to get his priorities straight and shift his attention towards the group that downed the Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula.
Putin agrees that ISIS is a problem and that there needs to be a “political transition process” after the Syrian war has ended.
However, Putin is not in support of removing Assad from power. President Obama said that it is not reasonable for him to remove ISIS while agreeing to leave Assad in place.
President Obama told reporters, “Even if I were to cynically say that my priority is ISIL and not removing Assad regardless of the terrible things that he’s done to his people, the United States could not stop the fighting in Syria by those who are opposed to Assad’s rule.”
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