US President Barack Obama has said “moderate” militants fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot hold their ground for a long period of time.
Speaking at a summit of Pacific leaders in Lima, Peru, on Sunday, Obama predicted that Syria’s second city, Aleppo, was going to fall to Syrian forces supported by Damascus’ allies, Russia and Iran.
“Once Russia and Iran made a decision to back Assad in a brutal air campaign… it was very hard to see a way in which even a trained and committed moderate opposition could hold its ground for long periods of time,” he said.
Obama, whose country is funding and training anti-Syrian militants, also said he is “not optimistic” about the Arab country’s future. “I am not optimistic about the short-term prospects in Syria.”
Since March 2011, the United States and its regional allies, in particular Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, have been conducting a proxy war against Syria….