Assad is an enemy of Isil, but not the West’s ally
Telegraph View: The persistence of the odious Syrian president in the face of Isil has exposed the incoherent of Western foreign policy
It is hard to see any solution to the Syrian tragedy which does not involve Western reconciliation with al-Assad Photo: Rex
By Telegraph View
8:15PM GMT 10 Feb 2015
2 Comments
The BBC’s interview with President Bashar al–Assad was a reminder of an inconvenient truth for Western policy-makers: the Syrian leader is still in place and is no closer to being ousted than he was before the civil war began four years ago. It can sometimes be hard to reconcile Assad’s soft-spoken emollience with the tyrant who has countenanced the gassing of his own people and the destruction of much of his country. But for all his efforts to convince international opinion that he is the injured party, he bears the greatest responsibility for the disaster that has overtaken Syria.
Moreover, his refusal to accept any blame for the baleful progress of the war, or to acknowledge the appalling behaviour of his armed forces, is an insult to our intelligence. His flippant denial of the use of barrel bombs against civilians was especially egregious.
Continue reading at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11403949/Assad-is-an-
Telegraph View: The persistence of the odious Syrian president in the face of Isil has exposed the incoherent of Western foreign policy
It is hard to see any solution to the Syrian tragedy which does not involve Western reconciliation with al-Assad Photo: Rex
By Telegraph View
8:15PM GMT 10 Feb 2015
The BBC’s interview with President Bashar al–Assad was a reminder of an inconvenient truth for Western policy-makers: the Syrian leader is still in place and is no closer to being ousted than he was before the civil war began four years ago. It can sometimes be hard to reconcile Assad’s soft-spoken emollience with the tyrant who has countenanced the gassing of his own people and the destruction of much of his country. But for all his efforts to convince international opinion that he is the injured party, he bears the greatest responsibility for the disaster that has overtaken Syria.
Moreover, his refusal to accept any blame for the baleful progress of the war, or to acknowledge the appalling behaviour of his armed forces, is an insult to our intelligence. His flippant denial of the use of barrel bombs against civilians was especially egregious.
Continue reading at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11403949/Assad-is-an-