Ex-envoy: Washington accepts fact that Assad winning, staying

DAMASCUS, Syria - The United States has accepted the fact that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is winning and staying, as his administration is in its strongest military position in six years, former US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said on Wednesday, the pan-Arab Mayadeen TV reported.

In contrast, the opposition, whether the political and military groups, are at their weakest, he said in a live interview.

Ford also said the Western and regional backers of the Syrian opposition have abandoned them.

Saudi Arabia has largely dwindled its support to the opposition, he added.

Ford, now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, also said the Syrian opposition has made mistakes during the crisis.

The first error, he said, was that the moderates in the political and armed opposition have allowed the extremists to join their ranks.

The second mistake, Ford continued, is that the opposition didn't present any clear political project that could be understood and accepted by the Syrian people.

The Syrian civil war is declining, which is "a good thing", Ford noted.

He said Iran is helping Russia to shrink the US influence in the region, adding that the US has, to some extent, lost in Syria.

Regarding the Kurds and the US support to them in northern Syria, Ford said that the idea that the US will militarily defend the Kurdish interest is wrong, warning that the Kurds shouldn't rely on the US help but should embark on talks with the Damascus government directly.

Meanwhile, Ford said the Lebanese Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside the Syrian government forces, is a winner in the war, despite the loss of many fighters.

The former ambassador also said the Syrian army reaching Deir al-Zour wasn't expected by the US.

A day earlier, the Syrian army and its allies broke the siege of the IS militants to the city of Deir al-Zour amid intense battles to drive out them out of the area.

The army also seized large swathes of IS-held territories in the desert region near the Iraqi and Jordanian border.

Ford's remarks reflect the so-called change in the international stance toward Syria, which Assad attributed recently to the military victories achieved by the army on the ground, with the Syrian troops controlling all major cities.

Xinhua

(China Daily 09/08/2017 page11)