ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)

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Interviewed by Italy's RAI UNO television, Assad

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to respond to accusations made by some Western analysts that his government was at least partly responsible for ISIL's creation.

"Actually," the president retorted, "according to what some American officials, including Hillary Clinton, have said, Al-Qaeda was created by the Americans with the help of Saudi Wahhabi money and ideology. Of course, many other [US] officials said the same…ISIL and al-Nusra are offshoots of Al-Qaeda. Regarding ISIL, it started in Iraq; it was established in Iraq in 2006…and the leader of ISIL today – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – he was in American prisons, and he was put in New York in their prisons, and then he was released. So it wasn't in Syria; it didn't start in Syria. It started in Iraq, and it started before that in Afghanistan…And Tony Blair recently said that yes, the Iraq War helped to create ISIL. Their confession is the most important evidence regarding your question."

Moreover, according to Assad, ISIL has no natural incubator in Syria, given the country's long-standing ideology of secular nationalism, religious tolerance and ethnic and religious co-existence prior to the war.

"If you want to talk about the strength of Daesh," the president noted, "the first thing you have to ask is how much of an incubator, a real, natural incubator, you have in a certain society. Up to this moment, I can tell you that Daesh does not have a natural incubator, a social incubator, within Syria."


At the same time, Assad warned, if ISIL's poisonous ideology grows roots and becomes chronic, "this kind of ideology can change the society." In the president's words, the terrorists, who have been "supported…in different ways since the beginning of the crisis" by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, "and of course the Western policy that supported [them] in different ways since the beginning of the crisis," will lose their strength once they lose the support of their benefactors.


"They can be strong as long as they have strong support from different states, whether in the Middle East or the West," Assad suggested.

Asked to comment on the deadly attacks which took place in Paris earlier this month, the president once again sent his condolences, condemning the "horrible crime" and noting that Syrians like few others can understand the terror of seeing "innocents being killed without any reason and for nothing….We've been suffering from that for the past five years."

Assad emphasized that "we feel for the French as we feel for the Lebanese a few days before that, and for the Russians regarding the airplane that's been shot down over Sinai, and for the Yemenis." At the same time, the president voiced his hope that the Western world would find compassion for the victims of terror from all these attacks, and not "only for the French."

Political Settlement Requires an Accurate Definition of the Opposition

Commenting on the potential for a political settlement to the Syrian crisis, the president emphasized that there could be no discussions on any timetable for settlement so long as the terrorist threat was not dealt with. Otherwise, Assad noted that a year and a half to two years would be enough to create mechanisms for a new political system, including a new constitution, and guidelines on referendums, parliamentary and presidential elections.


Regarding disagreements with Western powers over who can be defined as the legitimate opposition, Assad explained that people who hold machineguns in their hand cannot be considered legitimate opposition. "That's the case in every other country. Whoever holds a machinegun and terrorizes people and destroys private or public property or kills innocents –he is not the opposition. Opposition is a political term. Opposition can be defined not through your own opinion; it can be defined only through elections –through the ballot box."


According to the president, only the Syrian people, via elections, can determine who they consider the real opposition. "If you want to talk about my own opinion, you can be opposition when you have Syrian grassroots, when you belong only to your country. You cannot be opposition while you are formed as a person or as an entity in the foreign ministry of another country or in an intelligence office of another country. You cannot be a puppet; you cannot be a surrogate mercenary; you can only be a real Syrian."

Refugee Crisis Hitting Syria Just as Hard as Its Hitting Europe

Asked to comment on the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have fled Syria for Europe in recent months, Assad emphasized that "everyone who leaves this country is a loss to Syria…We feel the suffering, because every refugee in Syria has a long story of suffering within Syria, and that's what we should deal with by asking the question: 'Why did they leave?'"

According to the president, Syrians leave "for many reasons. The first one [is] the direct threat by terrorists. The second is the influence of terrorists in destroying infrastructure and affecting the livelihood of those people. But the third one, which is as important as the influence of terrorists, is the Western embargo on Syria." Assad emphasized that many people would go back to Syria in a heartbeat, "but how can he go back…while the basics of his life, his livelihood, has been affected dramatically?…The Western embargo and terrorism have put these people between the devil and the deep blue sea."

Asked by his interviewer whether he considered the Syrian war to be a religious war, the president made clear that this was actually a war with "people who have deviated from real religion; mainly, of course, from Islam, toward extremism, which we don't consider as part of our religion. It's a war between the real Muslims and the extremists. Of course, [the radicals] give it different titles –a war against Christians, a war against other sects…but the real issue is the war between them and the rest of the Muslims, the majority of whom are moderates."

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President Obama said Sunday that the United States and its international partners "will not relent" in the fight against the Islamic State group and that the world would not accept the extremists' attacks on civilians in Paris and elsewhere as the "new normal."

"The most powerful tool we have is to say we are not afraid," Obama said as he wrapped up a nine-day trip to Turkey and Asia that was shadowed by terrorist attacks.

The president also pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to align himself with the U.S.-led coalition, noting that IS has been accused of bringing down a Russian passenger jet last month, killing 224 people.

"He needs to go after the people who killed Russian citizens," he said of Putin.

The president spoke in Malaysia shortly before departing for Washington. His trip also took him to the Philippines and Turkey, where he met with Putin on the sidelines of an international summit.

While Russia has stepped up its air campaign in Syria, Obama said Moscow has focused its attention on moderate rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, a Russian ally. He called on Russia to make a "strategic adjustment" and drop its support for Assad, insisting the violence in Syria cannot be stopped as long as Assad is in office.

"It will not work to keep him in power," Obama said. "We can't stop the fighting."

Nearly five years of fighting between the Assad government and rebels has created a vacuum that allowed IS to thrive in both Syria and Iraq. The militant group is now setting its sights on targets outside its stronghold, including the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.

French President Francois Hollande is due to meet with Obama at the White House on Tuesday to discuss ways to bolster the international coalition fighting the Islamic State. Hollande then heads to Russia for talks with Putin.

"Our coalition will not relent. We will not accept the idea that terrorist assaults on restaurants and theaters and hotels are the new normal, or that we are powerless to stop them," Obama said.

The discussions about a military coalition to defeat IS come amid parallel talks about a diplomatic solution to end Syria's civil war. The violence has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions, sparking a refugee crisis in Europe.

Foreign ministers from about 20 nations agreed last week to an ambitious yet incomplete plan that sets a Jan. 1 deadline for the start of negotiations between Assad's government and opposition groups. Within six months, the negotiations are to establish a "credible, inclusive and nonsectarian" transitional government that would set a schedule for drafting a new constitution and holding a free and fair U.N.-supervised election within 18 months.

The Paris attacks have heightened fears of terrorism in the West and also sparked a debate in the U.S. about accepting refugees from Syria. It's unclear whether any of the terrorists in the Paris attacks exploited the refugee system to enter Europe, though Obama has insisted that's not a legitimate security threat in the United States.

"Refugees who end up in the United States are the most vetted, scrutinized, thoroughly investigated individuals that ever arrive on American shores," Obama said.

Still, the U.S. House passed legislation last week essentially blocking Syrian and Iraqi refugees from the U.S. Democrats in large numbers abandoned the president, with 47 voting for the legislation. Having secured a veto-proof majority in the House, supporters are now hoping for a repeat in the U.S. Senate, while Obama works to shift the conversation to milder visa waiver changes that wouldn't affect Syrian refugees.

Obama has focused his ire on Republicans throughout the trip, harshly criticizing GOP lawmakers and presidential candidates for acting contrary to American values. He took a softer tone Sunday, saying he understands Americans' concerns but urging them not to give into fear.

He said IS "can't beat us on the battlefield so they try to terrorize us into being afraid." The president declared, "We will destroy this terrorist organization."

Speaking dismissively of IS' global prowess, Obama said, "They're a bunch of killers with good social media."

The president also paid tribute to Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old from California who was killed in the Paris attacks, and Anita Ashok Datar, a 41-year-old from Maryland who died in Friday's attack in Mali. He said the women reminded him of his teenage daughters and his late mother.

"It is worth us remembering when we look at the statistics that there are beautiful, wonderful lives behind the terrible death tolls we see in these places," he said.

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Jura said:

interesting summary by NavyTimes today:

Obama: U.S. 'will not relent' in Islamic State campaign​

source:

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Zool said:

Good interview with Assad. He certainly says a lot of the right things, in particular his caution in attributing the war to Sunni's as a whole but instead this extremist offshoot that has plagued the world for many years now. A smart comment also in how he describes 'Opposition'.

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Jeff Head said:

The issue is simply that air strikes alone CANNOT take territory that ISIS has occupied...nor will it ever.

This has been stated over and over...and the current US administration simply does not want to commit the necessary US forces to do that. They also have been sorely misinformed, over-confident, and unrealistic in their expectations of developing a 3rd force within Syria to do so.

This has been the US issue. And it remains the US issue in Syria.

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Obama is worried about civilian casualties, so he restricts bombing runs. He’s worried about offending Iran, so he limits support to the Sunni militias. He’s worried about insulting the Saudis, so he won’t hold them to account for breeding terror. He’s worried about his legacy, so he won’t commit the ground forces necessary to establish safe zones in Syria. He’s worried about insulting Muslims, so won’t utter the words Islamist terrorism.

What he doesn’t seem worried about is the real possibility that ISIS will export its terror to the United States, just as it has to France.

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