US President Barack Obama is calling for a political solution to the Syrian crisis but at the same time Washington is also arming militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, an American activist in Maryland says.
Myles Hoenig made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on US President Barack Obama’s recent comments on the Syrian conflict that has consumed tens of thousands of lives since 2011.
In an interview with Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television on Friday, Obama said there is no “military solution” to the Syrian crisis. “Ultimately a military solution is not going to be the solution.”
He added that resolving the conflict needs the cooperation of the Persian Gulf and regional countries, including Turkey.
“President Obama has been saying that from the beginning, all the while arming the rebels, whether they were ‘moderate’ in the very beginning or those who quickly morphed into ISIS [ISIL],” Hoenig told Press TV.
The US president has been promoting this diplomatic approach more “for public consumption than for actual policy,” he added.
Hoenig said that Obama’s “overall goal may be to never have US boots on the ground in Syria.”
Obama can’t stretch his army that thinly as he is ratcheting up the hostilities towards Russia in part by arming and training the Nazi forces within Ukraine’s National Guard, the analyst added.