Obama acknowledges Syria policy helps Assad, says US has to focus on more immediate threats ADVERTISING Obama acknowledges Syria policy helps Assad, says US has to focus on more immediate threats WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Sunday gave voice
Obama acknowledges Syria policy helps Assad, says US has to focus on more immediate threats
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Sunday gave voice to the conundrum at the heart of his Syria policy, acknowledging that the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida’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.”
ISIL is an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group, which has broken with al-Qaida as it has taken control of large sections of Iraq and Syria. The Khorasan Group is a cell of militants that the U.S. says is plotting attacks against the West in cooperation with the Nusra front, Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate. Both groups have been targeted by U.S. airstrikes in recent days; together they constitute the most significant military opposition to Assad, whose government the U.S. would like to see gone.
Obama said his first priority is degrading the extremists who are threatening Iraq and the West. To defeat them, he acknowledged, would require a competent local ground force, something no analyst predicts will surface any time soon in Syria, despite U.S. plans to arm and train “moderate” rebels. The U.S. has said it would not cooperate with the Assad government.
Tourism to Israel drops dramatically as jittery tourists fearful after Gaza war with Hamas
JERUSALEM — It was supposed to be a record-breaking year for tourist visits to Israel. But all that changed when the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas prompted jittery travelers to cancel trips en masse, leaving empty hotel rooms and barren tourist sites in their wake.
The summertime fighting delivered a serious hit to Israel’s thriving tourism industry, causing losses of hundreds of millions of dollars and sparking concern that aftershocks may continue well after the war.
“Our challenge is how to prevent more cancelations. Despite a month having passed since the war, there is still an image among tourists that it is not safe to travel here,” said Oded Grofman of the Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association.
Israel’s war against Hamas came at the beginning of the peak tourist season, which includes July and August and runs through the Jewish High Holiday season and early winter.
Israel launched the war July 8 in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and to destroy a network of tunnels used to attack Israelis. More than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 people on the Israeli side were killed. Israel and Hamas signed a cease-fire on Aug. 26.
Preliminary autopsy rules out violent assault in deaths of 5 Utah family members
SPRINGVILLE, Utah — Police say a preliminary autopsy has ruled out any violent assault in the deaths of five Utah family members, including three children.
Police said Sunday there was no evidence of stabbing or gunshot wounds or other visible injuries to the five found dead Saturday night in their home in Springville, about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City.
The five were identified Sunday as 37-year-old Benjamin Strack, his 36-year-old wife, Kristi Strack, and three of their children, 14-year-old Benson, 12-year-old Emery and 11-year-old Zion.
Police Lt. Dave Caron says the cause of death has not been determined, and won’t be until an analysis of blood samples is concluded.
The medical examiner’s office provided no time frame for the release of results of laboratory testing.
By wire sources
