Assad Better Option for Syrian Government Than Islamic State Militants: Expert

© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev / Go to the mediabankAssad is the better choice for the long-term governance of Syria: expert
Assad is the better choice for the long-term governance of Syria: expert - Sputnik International
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Former president of the Center for a New American Security Lt. Col. John A. Nagl says that there are only the Islamic State or President Bashar Assad long-term options for ruling Syria.

WASHINGTON, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – Given only two options for the long-term governance of Syria, either the Islamic State (IS or ISIS) militants or President Bashar Assad, Assad is the better choice, Lt. Col. John A. Nagl, former president of the Center for a New American Security and counterinsurgency expert said.

"The only long-term options I see for ruling Syria are ISIS and Assad. Assad is better than ISIS, faint praise, but may be our best answer," Nagl said Monday at the New America Foundation discussion of US counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq.

"St. Augustine [said] the only purpose of a war is to build a better peace. A better peace in Syria may be Assad," he added.

Since the United States began operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in July and August respectively, the Obama administration has stated that it will not work the government of Assad in countering ISIS fighters in the region. The US Congress has authorized $500 million to train and equip moderate Syrian fighters, forces that will take months to be ready for combat.

Nagl stated that the US position toward Assad at the outset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, has made it politically unrealistic for Obama to view Assad as a potential stabilizer for that country. Additionally, the United States lost credibility when Obama backed down from using military force against Assad after issuing a "red line" against the Syrian government.

According to the retired military officer, "this makes turning to Assad as a long-term security answer in Syria very, very difficult" and "for that reason, it is likely that Obama will leave the question of the governance of Syria to the next administration".

The group calling itself the Islamic State is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In late June, IS announced the establishment of a caliphate on the territories it had captured in Iraq and Syria. In August of this year, the US-led coalition force began a series of airstrikes against IS forces in Iraq and Syria.

The US is currently training and financing anti-government Syrian rebels to fight against ISIS in the Middle East. While the administration has stated that its present strategy is focused on the defeat of ISIS and not against Assad, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told members of the Senate in September that the US would defend its Syrian assets in the event they were attacked by the Assad government.

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