Backing legal governments only way to counter Daesh: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Weber, the director of Institute for Historical Review, to discuss the recent gains of the Iraqi and Syrian forces on the battleground against Daesh terrorists.

A rough transcription of the interview appears below.

Press TV: Given the military advancements that we spoke about, can it be said that the countdown for the defeat of Daesh has begun?

Weber: The advance of Iraqi and Syrian troops against Daesh has been slower of course than many have been hoping or expecting, but it is happening all the same and the progress should not be surprising. The reason for that is because Daesh or the so-called Islamic State suffers from a serious and probably fatal weakness. It simply has not been able to provide good or secure livelihood for the people under its control and that means that regardless of the support its receives from favorite activists and fighters and from people who are perhaps angry with Iraqi and the Syrian regimes, the Daesh base of popular support is thin and minimal. It is not really a state in the normal sense of the world, and that means its appeal for the ordinary normal people is very limited.

So, we can expect I think that in months to come the armed forces in Iraq and Syria and their allies will continue to make steady progress against Daesh.

Press TV: Speaking of the making steady progress in defeating Daesh, in your eyes what else it is going to take for the final degradation and defeat of Daesh as well as other terrorist groups functioning and operating especially in Syria as well as in Iraq such measures perhaps as stopping those states or groups or countries for actually helping the terrorists and Daesh both ideologically, financially and otherwise?

Weber: Yes, that is an important aspect of it. It is becoming more and more obvious to people that the expectation by the US government that the government in Syria will fall apart and the Assad government will fall apart is not happening. It is holding its base of support, and it is increasing it and it has of course significant support from Russia and also Iran and that is of course a real calibration, reassessment by the United States and other countries that the only effective way to deal with Daesh is to support the governments that are already in place and having said that though over the long terms it is going to be important that both the Syrian and Iraqi governments stabilize their base of support, increase it so they are ever more attractive alternatives of course to Daesh.

Press TV: How do you assess the presence and the input of such countries? They are players in this crisis anyway, whether we accept it or not, like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. How effective do you think their presence can be in terms of defeating Daesh or sustaining it?

Weber: Of course the intervention by outside forces, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States is dangerous, especially by the United States. You might know that there have been recent reports, credible reports of involvement of US ground forces in Syria. This is very dangerous because the US involvement is entirely illegal as also it is the case with Turkey but above all this has to be solved by the governments in place and recognized internationally -- the Iraqi and Syrian governments-- and I think there is a growing consensus that [this] is the course the world has to acknowledge to.

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