Political solution to Syria crisis against actual US policy: American activist

US President Barack Obama is calling for a political solution to the Syrian crisis but at the same time Washington is also arming militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, an American activist in Maryland says.

Myles Hoenig made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on US President Barack Obama’s recent comments on the Syrian conflict that has consumed tens of thousands of lives since 2011.

In an interview with Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television on Friday, Obama said there is no “military solution” to the Syrian crisis. “Ultimately a military solution is not going to be the solution.”

He added that resolving the conflict needs the cooperation of the Persian Gulf and regional countries, including Turkey.

“President Obama has been saying that from the beginning, all the while arming the rebels, whether they were ‘moderate’ in the very beginning or those who quickly morphed into ISIS [ISIL],” Hoenig told Press TV.

The US president has been promoting this diplomatic approach more “for public consumption than for actual policy,” he added.

Hoenig said that Obama’s “overall goal may be to never have US boots on the ground in Syria.”

Obama can’t stretch his army that thinly as he is ratcheting up the hostilities towards Russia in part by arming and training the Nazi forces within Ukraine’s National Guard, the analyst added.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011. According to reports, the United States and its regional allies - especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey - are supporting the militants operating inside the country.

According to the United Nations, more than 220,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil that has gripped Syria for over four years.

The Obama administration has already outlined a $500 million program to train and arm 5,000 “moderate” militants in Syria to fight against ISIL and the Assad government, but according to the Pentagon, the number would be something between 12,000 and 15,000.

Hoenig said that Obama “has been arming these rebels and others and causing enormous bloodshed throughout his entire presidency.”

“By giving the green light to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel and others to support the ISIS-backed rebels, as well as the arms to do it, his complicity is [quite obvious] and will not end until his presidency is over,” he noted.

“His legacy will be of one of constant foreign policy turmoil, interference,” and overtly obstructing the will of peoples throughout the world, Hoenig stated.

He went on to say that Obama has been serving the interests of other governments “in order to satisfy very narrow constituencies at home and abroad, [which] rarely having anything to do with the real needs and desires of the American people.”

“What he is doing in Syria is very consistent with his actions as president for past six plus years,” he concluded.

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