A Quote by Joshua Landis

I think the Bashar Assad regime is on a roll. I think it's got the backing of Russia and Iran and Hezbollah. And it's hard to see who is going to stand in their way in this steady fight against the insurgents.

Joshua Landis

Quote Topics

Against Assad Backing Fight Going Got Hard Hezbollah Iran Regime Roll Russia See Stand Steady Think Way

Quote Author

Joshua Landis
American - Professor

I see a bit of a contradiction between the fight against the Islamic State and the desire to remove the Assad regime. And even if you work with Russia, I'm just not sold that working with Russia is an effective way to hasten the end of the Assad regime or to enact any type of punitive measures.

Judy Woodruff

Well, I think the U.S. has been careful not to go too far in attacking Iran's allies, in particular in attacking Hezbollah forces in Syria, which have been propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

David Ignatius

I think most of the Washington foreign policy establishment exists in a fantasy world when it comes to Syria. They fundamentally don't understand that Russia and Iran, from the beginning, had much more at stake in Syria than the United States did. Russia and Iran were going to do everything possible in order to keep Bashar al-Assad in power.

Chris Murphy

Part of the problem that we have currently in the Middle East is that[Bashar] Assad has hung on to power with the very strong support of Russia and Iran and with the proxy of Hezbollah being there basically fighting his battles.

Hillary Clinton

I don't understand this thing about [Bashar] Assad. He has to go. Assad is aligned with Iran and Russia. The one thing we want to prevent is we want to prevent Iran being able to extend a Shia crescent all across the Middle East. Assad has got to go.

John Kasich

I think that if you believe in regime change, you're mistaken. In 2013, we put 600 tons of weapons - us, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar - into the war against [Bashar] Assad. By pushing Assad back, we did create a safe space.

Rand Paul

Russia and Iran are not going to allow the Assad regime to fall.

Rashid Khalidi

The best way to help Israel deal with Iran's growing nuclear capacity is to help the people of Syria overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad.

Hillary Clinton

Putin is backing Assad - a person that's truly an evil person. And I think it's very bad for Russia. I think it's very bad for mankind. It's very bad for this world. And I really think that there's going to be a lot of pressure on Russia to make sure that peace happens, because, frankly, if Russia didn't go in and back this animal, you wouldn't have a problem right now. He was going to be overthrown.

Donald Trump

What we are is serious. And you see us in action, so it's not in personas. It's in actions and it's what we do. And that's why Russia was left on an island when it came to Syria. Everyone else isolated them with their connection with Bashar Assad and Iran.

Nikki Haley

I'm no apologist for Russia or the Assad regime, but actually, this has been staring us in the face for a number of years now, and I think it's time to turn a page and accept reality. Our strategy - if that is the right word - failed miserably, and Russia's with Iran has been successful.

Jeremy Hunt

I think those who have wanted regime [of Bashar Assad] change have made a mistake.

Rand Paul

There's no way to resolve Syria without Iran being involved, given its financing of Assad and the fact that Hezbollah is probably the most effective fighting force that Assad can count on.

Barack Obama

I think it's important to remember the tensions between Turkey and Russia predate this jet shoot down by some time. I mean, Russia's long been Bashar al-Assad's strongest backer.

Peter Kenyon

On Syria, it's clear that the indiscriminate attacks on civilians by the [Bashar] Assad regime and Russia will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe and that a negotiated end to the conflict is the only way to achieve lasting peace in Syria.

Barack Obama

[Bashar] Assad is one of the main reasons why ISIS even exists to begin with. Assad is a puppet of Iran.