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Russia Strikes in ISIS Territory in Syria but Ignores Western Demands Obama Sees Russia Failing in Syria Effort
(about 4 hours later)
MOSCOW — Russia widened its bombings in Syria on Friday, striking Islamic State territory for the first time, but showed no hint of heeding Western demands to avoid attacks on fighters pushing to oust Syria’s weakened, Kremlin-backed president. WASHINGTON — The already fragmented battlefield in Syria grew even more complicated on Friday, as Russia and Iran expanded their military efforts to defend the beleaguered Syrian government in defiance of President Obama, who predicted that their actions would only lead to a “quagmire.”
The Defense Ministry said its warplanes had bombed seven targets in overnight raids including a command post and training camp near Raqqa, the northeast Syrian city that the Islamic State has converted into the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq. In his first comments since Russia began airstrikes on Syrian targets this week, Mr. Obama said that Moscow was acting “not out of strength but out of weakness.” Bristling at criticism of his own Syria policy, he rejected domestic opponents who offer “half-baked ideas” that amount to “a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.”
The Russian aerial assaults, which began on Wednesday, have surprised and angered the United States and its Western and Arab allies, who have been bombing Islamic State targets for more than a year. “An attempt by Russia and Iran to prop up Assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire and it won’t work,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference at the White House on Friday, referring to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, a longtime ally of both Russia and Iran. “And they will be there for a while if they don’t take a different course.”
These allies see Russia’s move as a reckless attempt to bolster the president, Bashar-al Assad. His control of the country is increasingly tenuous in a war now in its fifth year, with a quarter-million dead, half the country’s population displaced and millions housed in refugee camps or fleeing for Europe. Neither Russia nor Iran showed signs of listening. While Moscow widened its airstrikes to hit Islamic State territory for the first time, Russian troops have unloaded a major long-range artillery system to add more firepower to its deployment in Syria, according to an American official. At the same time, American officials said Iran had sent as many as 600 additional ground troops to bolster Mr. Assad’s government.
The assaults have threatened to turn the war into a far more complicated and deeper conflict, throwing into doubt diplomatic efforts to find a political solution and posing new quandaries for the Obama administration, which has insisted that Mr. Assad leave office. Mr. Obama was left to confront a deteriorating situation over which he seemed to have even less control than before. In New York, Secretary of State John Kerry met separately with the foreign ministers of Russia and Iran without any apparent breakthrough, while American allies from Europe and the Middle East publicly called on Russia to stop bombing the moderate Syrian opposition to Mr. Assad.
Mr. Obama reiterated his position on Friday at a news conference in Washington, telling reporters he rejected Russia’s view. The president said that his program to select, train and arm Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, had failed in part because he had insisted they only battle the militants — and not also focus on toppling Mr. Assad’s government. “I’m the first one to acknowledge it has not worked the way it was supposed to,” he said. Instead, he said the United States wanted to work more closely with Kurdish allies who have enjoyed some success against the Islamic State to see “if we can built on that.” But he repeated his conclusion that there was no military solution to the long-running fratricidal war, only a political settlement that has to end with Mr. Assad’s departure from power.
“We’re not going to cooperate with a Russian campaign to destroy anyone who is disgusted and fed up with Assad,” Mr. Obama said. “The problem here is Assad and the brutality he’s inflicted on the Syrian people,” Mr. Obama said. While the United States will work with “all parties” to broker a transition, he 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.”
Senior Western diplomats at the United Nations have expressed concern that the Russian strikes, which have targeted rebel groups they support, will only embolden Mr. Assad. At the least, the strikes make it unlikely that his status will be decided ahead of any potential peace talks. Russia widened its bombings on Friday, saying its warplanes struck seven targets, including a command post and training camp near Raqqa, the northeast Syrian city that the Islamic State has converted into the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq. Until now, Russia had hit territory that was not dominated by ISIS but, in some cases, where American-supported rebels were located.
“We’re really concerned about the efficiency of any process that would start without sending a clear signal to all parties on the ground that at the end of the process, we will see a transition away from Bashar,” one Western diplomat said Friday. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because the issue is delicate. Russia seemed intent on adding more capacity with the delivery of a potent rocket system called Smerch. American intelligence analysts also have detected Russian military advisers pushing east to Hama, erecting tents at the Hama equestrian club, although the purpose remained unclear.
For the Arab allies in the Persian Gulf in particular, the diplomat said, it would be impossible to enter into any political talks without resolving that Mr. Assad will not be able serve as president again, after a transitional government. Similarly, Iran was reinforcing its own presence in Syria. American officials said 300 to 600 Iranian troops had arrived in recent days, augmenting some 1,500 who have been in Syria for months along with more than 5,000 militia fighters from Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group allied with Iran that has played an increasingly important role defending government territory.
Sunni Arabs who loathe Mr. Assad and his alliance with Shiite Iran will revolt even more, with the potential for even greater “mayhem,” as the diplomat put it. Western diplomats at the United Nations expressed concern that the Russian strikes will only embolden Mr. Assad, making any political settlement more difficult. For Arab allies in particular, one such diplomat said, it would be impossible to enter into political talks without resolving that Mr. Assad would go after a transitional government.
“It’s very important we don’t leave this question mark open,” he said. “It’s very important we don’t leave this question mark open,” said the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address the discussions.
Turkey issued a joint statement on Friday with Britain, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States, calling on Russia to stop targeting the opposition groups they have been supporting and warning that such attacks would feed radicalism and extremism. Some of those regional allies joined the United States and Europe in Friday’s statement condemning Russian actions and urging Moscow to focus any strikes on the Islamic State. “These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalization,” said the statement, signed by the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Their view has been disputed by Russia, and was summarily rejected later Friday at the United Nations by the foreign minister of Syria, Walid al-Moallem. Mr. Kerry met with Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, who were in New York for the United Nations meeting, but aides said the Zarif meeting focused on the recent nuclear agreement, not Syria. Mr. Kerry also met with Yusuf bin Alawi, the foreign minister of Oman, which was a central intermediary with Iran leading to the nuclear deal.
Delivering his nation’s speech at the annual session of the General Assembly, Mr. Moallem thanked the Russians for coming to the aid of the Syrian military with airstrikes and asserted that they were part of its effort to combat terrorism. Syria welcomed Russia’s help on Friday. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, said the Russian operations were part of an effort to fight terrorism and he ridiculed Western advocacy for political changes during such a battle.
Signaling his own confidence about Mr. Assad’s position, Mr. Moallem also ridiculed the Western-led efforts to advocate political changes in Syria while the country was under what he described as a total terrorist assault. “Syria cannot implement any democratic political measures related to elections, a constitution or the like while terrorism is striking at home and threatens innocent civilians in the country,” he said. He castigated the West and Arab states for failing to stop the influx of foreign jihadists into Syria, blaming the alliance for creating the crisis. “Our vision proved to be correct,” he said.
“Syria cannot implement any democratic political measures related to elections, a constitution or the like, while terrorism is striking at home and threatens innocent civilians in the country,” he said. The Syrian minister’s presence at the United Nations this week created some awkward moments for Mr. Kerry, who will not directly engage him. When Mr. Kerry walked into a meeting room Wednesday evening and saw Mr. Moallem speaking with Mr. Lavrov, the secretary quickly left, according to two diplomats.
Mr. Moallem castigated the alliance of Western and Arab states for what he called their failure to stop the flow of foreign jihadists into Syria. He blamed the alliance for creating the crisis, a position the Assad government has taken since the outset. The Russian strikes also preoccupied a separate summit meeting in Paris on Friday meant to deal with another crisis involving Moscow, the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. President François Hollande of France spoke with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for an hour about Syria before the broader meeting.
“Our vision proved to be correct,” Mr. Moallem said. At a news conference afterward, Mr. Hollande said he told Mr. Putin that any solution in Syria “must include the departure of Bashar al-Assad” and that the Russian airstrikes should only target ISIS. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said “the solution must take into account the interest of the opposition. We need a solution after 250,000 dead.”
The Syrian foreign minister’s presence at the United Nations this week has created some awkward moments for Secretary of State John Kerry, who has also been attending the General Assembly session but will not engage directly with him. In Moscow on Friday, the Defense Ministry said its warplanes hit an ISIS training camp near the town of Maaden Jedid and a command post near Kasert-Faraj, both southwest of Raqqa.
When Mr. Kerry walked into a meeting room Wednesday evening and saw Mr. Moallem speaking with Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, Mr. Kerry exited swiftly, two diplomats said. The Russians also reportedly hit Qaryatayn, south of Homs, according to Mayadeen TV, a Lebanese channel close to the Damascus government. ISIS forces captured the town recently and are still holding some Assyrian Christian hostages there.
A State Department official said Mr. Kerry planned to meet on Friday with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, with whom he has developed a relationship because of the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. The Obama administration has been trying to engage with Iran on Syria, a turnabout from last year. The other four areas that Syrian state TV reported being hit by Russian forces were in parts of the country known to be controlled by rebel groups other than ISIS. The Russian Navy meanwhile deployed the missile cruiser Moscow to defend Russian planes stationed near Latakia, according to Interfax.
In Moscow on Friday, the Defense Ministry said that its warplanes had flown 10 sorties overnight, hitting seven targets including a training camp and a command post run by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, near Raqqa. Mr. Obama, who met with Mr. Putin in New York on Monday, excoriated him Friday.
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the ministry, said that the training camp was near the town of Maaden Jedid and that the command post was near Kasert-Faraj, both southwest of Raqqa. “Mr. Putin had to go into Syria not out of strength but out of weakness, because his client Mr. Assad was crumbling,” Mr. Obama said. Making no distinction between the Islamic State and other rebel groups is a “recipe for disaster” that would “turbocharge ISIL recruitment and jihadist recruitment,” he added.
In Raqqa, the authorities announced that they were canceling Friday Prayer in the mosques as a safety measure, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a organization based in Britain that tracks local activity across the country. Clearly frustrated by assertions that Mr. Putin had gotten the upper hand, Mr. Obama said the Russians were the ones who were isolated. “Iran and Assad make up Mr. Putin’s coalition at the moment,” he said. “The rest of the world makes up ours.”
The Russians also reportedly hit Qaryatayn, south of Homs, according to Mayadeen TV, a Lebanese channel close to the Damascus government. Islamic State forces captured the town recently, pushing out from the desert city of Palmyra toward Damascus, and they are still holding some Assyrian Christian hostages from there. He dismissed critics of his policy. “When I hear people offering up half-baked ideas as if they are solutions or trying to downplay the challenges involved in the situation, what I’d like to see people ask is, specifically, precisely, what exactly would you do and how would you fund it and how would you sustain it?” he said. “And typically, what you get is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.”
The other four areas that Syrian state television reported had been hit by Russian forces were in different parts of the country known to be controlled by rebel groups other than the Islamic State. In response to a reporter, he strained to explain that he did not mean his former secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who just Thursday backed a no-fly zone in Syria, a policy he has rejected. But he suggested her view was just a campaign position.
The Russian foray into Syria also preoccupied a summit meeting in Paris on Friday meant to deal with another crisis pitting Russia against the West: the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. “Hillary Clinton is not half-baked in terms of her approach to these problems,” Mr. Obama said. “But I also think that there’s a difference between running for president and being president.”
The leaders of Russia and France talked for an hour about Syria, a French official said, before the broader meeting, which included the leaders of Germany and Ukraine. They talked about Syria there as well.
Later at a news conference, President François Hollande of France said he had told Mr. Putin that any solution in Syria “must include the departure of Bashar al-Assad” and that Russian airstrikes should only be targeting the Islamic State. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said “the solution must take into account the interest of the opposition. We need a solution, after 250,000 dead.”
As part of its campaign in Syria, the Russian Navy has deployed the missile cruiser Moscow to defend Russian Air Force planes stationed near Latakia, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday, quoting an unidentified military source.
The missile cruiser, part of a fleet that operates permanently in the eastern Mediterranean, has fired a few shots at aerial targets, the agency reported, without providing additional details.
Russian support for the Assad government is based at least in part on a desire to maintain access to its longstanding naval station at Tartus, its only overseas military post outside the former Soviet Union.
Increased fighting in Syria was cited by the United Nations on Friday for a decision to halt humanitarian operations near Zabadini, a town near the Lebanese border and in two villages in northwest Idlib.
A statement from the office of Staffan de Mistura, the special United Nations envoy seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict, called on “all concerned parties to fulfull their responsibilities” and honor an agreement to allow the operations. The statement did not make any reference to the Russian airstrikes.