Assad Says Strikes on IS Not Working as Coalition Says Halted Group Advance
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Coalition strikes against the Islamic State group are having no impact, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview to be published Thursday, as members of the U.S.-led offensive claimed to be winning the fight.
"You can't end terrorism with aerial strikes. Troops on the ground that know the land and can react are essential," he said in this week's edition of French magazine Paris Match.
"That is why there haven't been any tangible results in the two months of strikes led by the coalition.
"They would of course have helped had they been serious and efficient."
the U.S.-led coalition announced that the jihadist group's advance across Iraq and Syria is finally being stopped.
"Participants noted that the global campaign against ISIL/Daesh is beginning to show results. The ISIL/Daesh advance across Syria and into Iraq is being halted," a coalition statement obtained by Agence France-Presse said, referring to the group by its alternative names.
The statement, issued after a meeting in Brussels led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, said Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by coalition air strikes, "are now reclaiming territory in Iraq."
The coalition of around 60 mainly Western and Arab nations was formed after the first U.S. air strikes in August against IS, which has proclaimed a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.
They also agreed at the Brussels meeting to develop a "multifaceted" strategy to combat IS, including stopping the flow of foreign fighters, cutting finance and "delegitimization" of its powerful, social media-driven brand.
Kerry had earlier warned that the fight against IS could take "years."
Separately, Assad said he does not think about "death or life" when asked whether he was afraid to suffer the same demise as the late Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi, who were both toppled after international interventions in their countries.
"I am doing my best to save the country," he said.
"But I would like to emphasize one thing. My goal has never been to remain president, neither before, during, or after the crisis."
Assad's role in any future transition to end the bloody, nearly four-year Syrian conflict is the subject of much controversy.
A year ago, Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi said that Assad would remain president and lead any form of transition, ahead of January peace talks that ended in failure.
But the opposition -- as well as countries such as Turkey and France -- insist that the Syrian leader must go no matter what happens.
Assad insisted he was "neither a personal enemy or rival of (French President Francois) Hollande."
"I think that Daesh is his rival, their popularity is very much the same," he said, in a dig at the French leader's record low popularity ratings.
(Photo courtesy of Paris Match)
03 December 2014, 16:25
55
The Butche....the greatest criminal in History killing his own people.
03 December 2014, 16:48
106
humble you said the same as John Mccain. How ironic, Assad is saving his people rom foreign takfiris from around all the world. Assad is the best choice for Syria
03 December 2014, 17:29
66
How many palestinians died by the israeli bombardments? We didn't hear your beloved Mccain complain about that, and how come we never hear him complain about the takfiri car bombs, stashed outside every government held, residential area? You claim Assad kills civilians all the time, when in reality, the takfiris are to blame.
Syria was fine until, the Americans, and their allies started that conflict. With Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Naharnet and their other media outlets.
03 December 2014, 16:31
55
The Butcher is the enemy of our country...we will never ever make an alliance with this killer.
03 December 2014, 16:50
127
gabby14, that's not what you said when the syrian airforce bombed Raqqa, you condemned it back then.. Be it Nusra Da3ish or all other takfiris FSA aswell. They are all doomes to fail. God is not on their side in this, that we can see.
03 December 2014, 17:28
116
Let me remind everyone, what you flies said 4 years ago. "Assad will be ousted after 3-4 months" It has been years now, and you continue to believe that the takfiris have anything new to do. The Syrians are well aware of whom they are, and they do not want to live under a takfiri empire.
Now most of the people, that were against Assad, now backs him. They know the alternative is worse.
03 December 2014, 17:41
106
Terrorist you do realize we are all laughing at you, don't you? You're in love with a troll who is most certainly a guy.
Even the guy behind the "norma.jean" account is laughing at you, sarcastically calling you "cutie" ROFLMAO
03 December 2014, 17:44
106
Mystic you can believe anonyme, he was there counting every shell and air strike, and taking the names, addresses, and nationalities of all targetted people. i even saw him saving a puppy from under the rubble once.
03 December 2014, 17:55
78
mowaten never posts an opinion never. All his posts are pure harassment of other posters and he talks about trolls... ghareeb!
03 December 2014, 18:43
74
yes never-fpm, but while anonyme was confidently confirming that the strikes were "killing strictly innocent Syrian civilians" i was too busy counting the slaughtered pita breads so i couldnt personally garantee you any "strict" tolls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TJjWjNQkcU&html5=1
saoodi.masi7i are you feeling harassed? trolled? can't take a little a taste of your own medecine? lool keep crying dude, i find your hypocrisy amusing.
pajamaboy: oui oui... regarde la caravane passer!
03 December 2014, 20:25
46
@terrorist
mowaten's real purpose on this forum is disruption, harassment, and spreading hatred and lies. He is the master of fake accounts.
04 December 2014, 08:35
12
funny how all these abusive accounts impersonating others appear when flamethrower is not posting and disappear when he does post.
04 December 2014, 11:22
10
can anyone explain why my comment was censored? there it is:
yes never-fpm, but while anonyme was confidently confirming that the strikes were "killing strictly innocent Syrian civilians" i was too busy counting the slaughtered pita breads so i couldnt personally garantee you any "strict" tolls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TJjWjNQkcU&html5=1
saoodi.masi7i are you feeling harassed? trolled? can't take a little a taste of your own medecine? lool keep crying dude, i find your hypocrisy amusing.
pajamaboy: oui oui... regarde la caravane passer!
04 December 2014, 12:27
20
i report everybody's comments? where did you get that one from? ohh yea sorry i forgot you were an m14er, aka "random-accusations-r-us"
03 December 2014, 17:20
611
Mohammad Ali Sobhani current advisor in Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Iran’s former envoy to Lebanon from 1997 to 2005: "The Syrian crisis started with the detention of youths who went out protesting. This behavior continued until [the uprising] turned into a war, had the government calmed people and played its role, we would not have faced the current political and sectarian conflict in Syria" - Nov 27, 2014
03 December 2014, 17:20
59
Syrian VP Farouk Al-Sharaa, in an Al-Akhbar Exclusive: "At the beginning of the mobilization, the authorities begged for the appearance of a single armed person or a sniper at the top of one of the buildings. I do not deny that some of us acted as if the dialogue was unnecessary and whispered this to the leadership. So it distanced itself under the pretext that the internal and external opposition saw it as one of the regime’s charades. In the end, this finished off the political dialogue and opened the doors wide for the dialogue of bullets and guns. The drop in the number of peaceful protesters led one way or another to the rise in militants. The way events are heading will lead to an uncomfortable place where things will definitely go from bad to worse." - Dec 17, 2012
03 December 2014, 20:41
24
sure!!! a big blow in their propaganda .... normal they do not comment this.... they hide
03 December 2014, 22:45
00
Thunder these attestations from his stanchest allies blow bashar and his defenders' "it was a foreign conspiracy from day one" right out of the water and give credibility to everything his opponents have been saying, putting the blame of over a quarter million dead square on his shoulders.
03 December 2014, 17:41
00
tric.tric that already happened my friend, on the 13th of October 1990 after Michel A joinoun deserted his command, ran away and fled, a Lebanon Army officer join with Syrian Arab Forces tank when it was driven over him after he was capture.
03 December 2014, 18:13
34
comparing Hollande to Daesh.
True. Hollande is stupid. Very stupid.
But Daesh are not only stupid, they also are crimninals. Ruthless criminals.
And you are not only stupid and criminal, you are also hypocrit. You are a stupid ruthless criminal.
What did u get from burining your country to the ground?
03 December 2014, 21:31
34
Assad has no credibility... He doesn't even run Syria... hes going on 4 years of war him and those dirty low life hizbulshaitan and they havent even made a change... to me thats loosing.. if youre not gaining ground or keeping peace then you are definitely loosing.. there is no in between. conclusion which is clear to the world: assad only runs damascus... which is 25% of syria and Hizbulshaitan hasnt made a difference. Guys please be positive and look at the bright side... hizbalshaitan is just getting killed in syria one by one :) next its irans turn.
03 December 2014, 22:26
00
If someone constantly told you how to correctly spell Christian, as in follower of Jesus Christ and you kept spelling it Cristhian any casual observer would come to the conclusion that you either are a total retard or just doing it on purpose to try and pretend you are someone you're not. In this case here it's probably both.
