Expert: US can positively accept Assad’s willingness to cooperate – RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, September 16 – RIA Novosti. the United States and Western countries may respond positively to the statements of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s willingness to cooperate in the fight against the terrorist group “Islamic State”, but it will not happen soon, find polled by RIA Novosti experts.

Assad in an interview with Russian media called the terrorist group “Islamic State” and “Dzhabhat An-Nusra” “Western extremist project”, noting that the United States and the international coalition could have destroyed the IG, if you wanted to. At the same time the Syrian president has signaled that he is ready to cooperate with the US in the fight against the IG and is ready to dialogue with the West in general, despite the fact that Western countries insist on his resignation and support of his opponents.

COOPERATION WITH THE WEST Perhaps, but not soon

Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Institute of forecasting and settlement of political conflicts Alexander Kuznetsov believes that Western countries can to cooperate with the Syrian government in the fight against the IG.

“The threat of a second Afghanistan, and at the borders of Europe, it is very sensitive. If there is political realism, it is possible to (co). Another question is – under what conditions. If the Western countries will Syria to impose their agenda will be his men to advance to the power, it will probably be unacceptable to Bashar al-Assad, “- said the expert.

At the same time, he noted that in the near future, count on it is still not worth it.

” Time (US President Barack) Obama’s coming to an end so it is unlikely to make any sudden movements. Europe is a political lack of will. I think that it is not necessary to talk about it in the near future “, – he said.

Senior Fellow at the Center of International Security IMEMO Vladimir Sotnikov also allows the possibility of cooperation between the US and Syria in the fight against the IG. According to him, Washington may pay attention to these signals by the Assad regime.

“I think that thinking politicians in the US, which monitors the situation in the Middle East understand that now really with IG fights only the Syrian army, loyal to Bashar Assad, and the Kurdish Peshmerga “- said the expert.

” Do not rule out that at some point the Americans feel they are actually beneficial to deal with IG using an army of Assad, and their main demand – regime change in Syria – falling by the wayside, “- suggested the expert.

IG – the project is not the West, and the Sunnis

Kuznetsov did not agree with the assessment of the Syrian president a terrorist group” Islamic State “as a project of the West. He said IG – is the reaction of the Sunnis of Iraq, whose rights have long been infringed by the Shiite government in Baghdad. At the same time, he noted the justice of Assad that the establishment of the IG has greatly contributed to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“All of this is rooted in the American occupation of Iraq in 2003, when it was completely dismantled statehood . The Iraqi army, the Baath Party – as a result had to Sunnis such ugly forms of self-organization to take. Bashar Assad is right in saying that if it were not for the interventionist policy of the West, the IG would not be “, – the expert said.

When This Kuznetsov questioned Assad’s statement that the United States could destroy the IG if it wanted to.

“I think that the military way is possible in the presence of a sufficiently large American contingent, say 50-60 thousand people. But Americans will not agree to that. Obama has positioned the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as their own great achievements. American public opinion is now strongly opposed intervention in the Middle East. So glad this is not necessary, “- he said.

In the absence of this option , other methods of a military solution would be useless, “is not settled by political means a problem with the Sunnis in Iraq.”

“It is possible, of course, destroy the leadership of the IG to send special forces to kill 10-15 people, but this does not solve the problem. We need political negotiations need a new division of power in Iraq. If we want to preserve Iraq as a unified state, to include Sunnis in government give them a share of power, to give autonomy to the Sunni regions to share revenues of oil and so on, “- said Kuznetsov.

In turn, Sotnikov believes that the prosecution of Assad against the US reluctance to begin serious the fight against the IG may be true.

“I think that the statement of Assad’s true. If a coalition headed by the United States could launch a ground operation, and finally deal with the IG, then perhaps this would be expected for a long time, “- said Sotnikov.

However, the expert warned that oversimplify the situation in Syria. “You have to understand that the statement of Bashar al-Assad – is the point of view of the Syrian side. I think the situation is much more difficult,” – said the expert.