By: Nyameba PaaQoJo
US President Barack Obama delivers a live televised address to the nation on his plans for military action against the Islamic State, from the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington September 10, 2014 .
President Barack Obama would seek to overthrow the regime of Bashar al- Assad if American planes were attacked upon entering Syrian air space , Peter Baker of The New York Times reports .
If Assad ’s troops fired at American planes entering Syrian airspace , “ Obama said he would order
American forces to wipe out Syria’ s air defense system, ” Baker reports . “ He went on to say that such an action by Mr . Assad would lead to his overthrow , according to one account . ”
On Wednesday , Obama announced that he had authorized US airstrikes in Syria while laying out a four - part strategy to “ destroy ” and “ eradicate ” radical ISIS militants who have captured roughly a third of Syria and a third of Iraq.
Since August, US warplanes have backed Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish peshmerga fighters , and Iranian - backed Shia militiamen as they attempt to roll back ISIS gains in Iraq .
Baker , who spoke with 10 people who spoke to the president leading up to his speech on Wednesday, writes that Obama ” struck his guests as less certain about the endgame on the Syrian side , where he has called for Mr . Assad to step down and must now rely on the same moderate Syrian rebels he refused to arm in the past . ”
Syrian rebels associated with the Western - backed Free Syrian Army ( FSA) have scoffed at Obama’ s plan, saying that it rushes to target ISIS while ignoring Assad .
“ I don’ t really understand this sudden fuss about ISIS , ” one FSA fighter told The Guardian . “ They killed people, but Bashar has been killing for the last three years . But nobody seems to be interested in that anymore .”
Opposition fighters note that simply bombing ISIS will not stop the criminal army and that a comprehensive plan is needed to deal with both ISIS and Assad .
“ Instead of bombing ISIS from the air, we need support inside Syria to fight.
It ’ s the only way , ” Mohammed Al Bakhour , 31, a senior commander of an Aleppo - based FSA battalion, told the Guardian . “ Once Assad is gone , we ’ll deal with ISIS ourselves .”
It ’ s unclear if the US would protect what it calls “ the legitimate opposition ” near Aleppo , Syria’ s largest city and the last place that the FSA has a significant foothold . FSA- aligned revolutionaries are currently fighting for their survival as ISIS and Assad attack them from all sides.
Helping FSA rebels against Assad ’ s warplanes would force Obama to get involved in ” somebody else ’s civil war ” while putting American planes in the sights of Syrian planes and air defense systems .
“ From everything the administration has said and leaked to the press, we know that it will not offer the FSA any meaningful protection from the Syrian Air Force ’ s punishing aerial assaults , either in the form of a no - fly zone or shoulder- launched surface- to - air missiles , ” journalist Michael Weiss writes in Now . ” This means that the same rebels who … were already fighting six different enemies in Syria will only be equipped to carry on fighting one . So what happens if Assad continues to bomb America ’ s half - a- billion - dollar counterterrorism proxy force?”
The New York Times editorial board argues that without significant strengthening of Syrian rebels, ” there is no chance the fight against ISIS can be successful .”
And then there is the hovering question of Assad .
The Obama administration has argued that US airstrikes on ISIS positions wouldn ’t help Assad because he has lost legitimacy in the areas currently under ISIS control . But without a strong nationalist opposition — which both Assad and ISIS are trying to destroy — the Syrian regime stands to gain from airstrikes on ISIS .
“ Assad is the far stronger player in Syria ; hitting ISIS necessarily helps him consolidate power , ” geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer told Business Insider in an email . “ That’ s a cause and effect that the US is trying to avoid , but it ’ s the reality. ”
Source:NigeriaCamera
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