POLITICO: …”We are very clear about sticking to our belief and our policy that the problem here is Assad, and the brutality that he has inflicted on the Syrian people, and it has to stop,” [President] Obama said. “We are not going to cooperate with a Russian campaign to simply try to destroy anybody who is disgusted and fed up with Mr. Assad’s behavior.”
Claims that the Russian leader has outwitted him overlooks Russia’s economic decline and its political isolation over his aggression in Ukraine, Obama said.
“As a consequence of these brilliant moves, their economy is contracting at 4 percent this year,” Obama said. “Their main allies in the Middle East were Libya and Syria… and those countries are falling apart, and he’s now had just to send in troops and aircraft in order to prop up this regime.”… (more)
