Obama rules out ground troops to oust Assad from Syria

US President Barack Obama has ruled out sending American ground troops to Syria, saying military efforts alone cannot end the bloody conflict that has plagued the country for over five years.

“It would be a mistake for the United States or Great Britain or a combination of Western states to send in ground troops and overthrow the Assad regime,” Obama said during an interview with the BBC broadcast on Sunday.

Obama first publicly called for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ouster in August 2011, but last year softened demands for his immediate departure, insisting instead the Syrian leader should resign as part political transition process.

In his interview, broadcast during an official visit to the UK, Obama repeated his call for negotiated regime change.

“I do believe that we can apply international pressure to all the parties, including Russia and Iran who essentially are propping up Assad, as well as those moderate opposition that exist and may be fighting inside of Syria, to sit down at the table and try to broker a transition.” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waAUz1X_9c0

At least 250,000 people — and perhaps as many as a half million — have been killed in the five-year civil war. The fighting also has spawned Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II and has led to the emergence of the Islamic State group.

Admitting he does not believe Islamic State can be defeated during his remaining nine months in office, Obama said the best the international coalition against the group can hope for is to “slowly shrink the environment in which they operate.”

The United States is leading a coalition of Western countries and Gulf States in a bombing campaign against the group, which has taken control of vast stretches of territory in Iraq and Syria since 2014.