Assad: U.S. ‘Not Serious’ About ISIS

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad slammed the U.S. military’s intervention in his country and lauded Russia’s ability to collaborate with his forces, in an interview with NBC News conducted this week. Assad said he’ll regain full control of his country within “a few months,” adding that Russian support has been “the crucial factor” in making progress against the Islamic State terror group. He added, “The Russian politics is not based on making deals—it’s based on values.” This assessment is a stark contrast, he said, to the U.S. presence. “They’re not serious,” Assad said of the American government. He called “illegal” U.S. airstrikes against ISIS in the country “counterproductive” and ineffective. “The reality is telling that, since the beginning of the American airstrikes, the terrorism has been expanding and prevailing,” Assad said. “It only shrinked when the Russians intervened.” He added, “We wanted to defeat those terrorists, while the United States wanted to manage those groups in order to topple the government in Syria.”