Bashar Assad

• Syrian President Bashar Assad described Donald Trump as a “natural ally” in his regime’s murderous campaign against its own citizens. “Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview broadcast Tuesday with Portugal's state-run RTP television channel that his forces were fighting to liberate civilians from ‘terrorists,’ while most of the rebels in Aleppo, numbering around 8,000 according to the U.N., are Syrians who have been fighting to overthrow Assad. Assad also identified U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as a possible ‘natural ally,’ if he turned out to be ‘genuine’ about his commitment to fight terror in Syria. Trump has indicated he would prioritize defeating the Islamic State group in Syria over regime change, saying the rebels could be ‘worse’ than the sitting president.” (Chicago Tribune, November 17, 2016)