Alwaght- Regarding the huge losses of Syrian militant and terrorist groups, the Wall Street Journal believes the US war to oust Assad in Syria is already lost.
Referring to recent victories by Syrian army against terrorist groups in the northern city of Aleppo, the US journal writes “Steep losses by rebels in Syria have scrambled U.S. policy calculations at a crucial moment in the country’s long-running war”.
“The recent gains by Assad’s forces have added impetus to calls among some of Trump’s closest advisers, as well as other top US strategists, to cut back on support for the Syrian opposition. Some believe the war to oust Assad already has been lost and the US should ally with Russia and possibly the Syrian government in an all-out assault on extremists,” WSJ reported.
Syrian forces have managed to liberate more than 60 percent of the regions previously controlled by terrorist and militant groups in Aleppo causing a major shift in the battle for the city, whose fate is seen as potentially pivotal in the broader Syrian conflict.
“Show me a strategy right now that gets rid of Assad,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a close Trump adviser, said in an interview, suggesting no such strategy exists. “The Russians are for him and the Iranians are for him, and there’s no coalition of forces in the region that defeats him. So it starts with reality.”
Former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also has met with Mr. Trump, said in an interview that it is unlikely Americans would support the kind of military commitment needed to unseat Assad.
“I think we have to begin by being realistic,” he said. “Assad is going to remain in power, and the Russians are committed to that.”
Assad said Trump could be a “natural ally” against terrorism in a November interview with Portuguese state television, but also said that the campaign rhetoric might not translate into a new US approach.
