Assad: US airstrikes in Syria have ‘not proven effective’ against ISIS
Syrian President Bashar Assad has stated that the United States-led airstrike campaign against ISIS has not proven effective. The Shiite leader says that ‘You can’t end terrorism with aerial strikes’ and says that troops on the ground are needed.
Cartoon by Carlos Latuff 2011 wikimedia commons
Assad’s comments published in Paris Match magazine hint that their Syrian forces were producing more results than American airstrikes.
“You can’t end terrorism with aerial strikes,” Assad said in the Nov. 28 interview. “Troops on the ground that know the land and can react are essential. That is why there haven’t been any tangible results in the two months of strikes led by the coalition.”
Assad said that the U.S. strike “would of course have helped had they been serious and efficient.”
The AP reports that Syrian forces and American forces have targeted ISIS terrorists but the U.S. does not coordinate with the Syrian government for combined attacks.
Assad also accused Turkey of conspiring with the terrorists.
“We are running the ground battles against Daesh, and we have noticed no change, especially with Turkey providing direct support to these regions,” he said.
Asked by the magazine about whether he was afraid of suffering the same demise as former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein or Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, Assad reportedly replied: “The captain doesn’t think about death, or life, he thinks about saving his ship. If he thinks about sinking, everyone will die.”
