Obama: 'Contradictory' Syria policy helps Assad
President Barack Obama on Sunday gave voice to the conundrum at the heart of his Syria policy, acknowledging that the US-led military campaign against the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria is helping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, a man the United Nations has accused of war crimes.
"I recognize the contradiction in a contradictory land and a contradictory circumstance," Obama said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes." ''We are not going to stabilize Syria under the rule of Assad," whose government has committed "terrible atrocities," Obama said.
"On the other hand, in terms of immediate threats to the United States, ISIL, Khorasan Group - those folks could kill Americans."
