“They (US) came to Iraq with no legal basis, and look what happened to them. They have to learn the lesson. Iraq is no exception, and Syria is no exception,” said Assad vowing to recover areas under the SDF control.
Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad said the US should learn the lesson of Iraq and withdraw from Syria, and promised to recover areas of the country held by US-backed militias through negotiations or force.
In an interview with Russia Today, Assad said the government had “started now opening doors for negotiations” with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia alliance that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where US forces are stationed.
SDF mostly comprises YPG militants – the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror organisation.
“This is the first option. If not, we’re going to resort to … liberating those areas by force. We don’t have any other options, with the Americans or without the Americans,” he said.
“The Americans should leave, somehow they’re going to leave.”
“They came to Iraq with no legal basis, and look what happened to them. They have to learn the lesson. Iraq is no exception, and Syria is no exception. People will not accept foreigners in this region anymore,” he said.
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s description of him as “Animal Assad,” he said, “What you say is what you are.”
Trump called Assad an animal after a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near Damascus in April.