ABCNews.com(WASHINGTON) — President Obama used his year-end news conference to rebuke the ongoing civil war in Syria and what he said is the role of foreign governments, including Russia and Iran, in prompting the violence in the country.
“Responsibility for this brutality lies in one place alone with the Assad regime and its allies, Russia and Iran, and this blood and these atrocities are on their hands,” he said after specifically mentioning the Syrian government’s offensive assault in the major city of Aleppo this month that has led to thousands of civilian deaths and exacerbated the refuge crisis in the region.
“We’ve seen entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble and dust,” Obama added. “There are continuing reports of civilians being executed. These are all horrific violations of international law.”
The brutal and bloody civil war in the Mideast country has plagued the Obama administration for the past five years and put the White House in direct confrontation with the Russian government. Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin have backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Obama on Friday again called out Russia for using its veto power in the United Nations Security Council to block international efforts to get outside humanitarian aid into the country and demand further monitoring of chemical weapons in Syria.
The president acknowledged Friday that there are observers in Aleppo helping to coordinate evacuations, but called for the international community to do more.
He again argued, as has been the position of his administration, for a political solution to the civil war.
“We’ll work in the U.N. General Assembly as well both on accountability and to advance a political settlement because it should be clear that although you may achieve tactical victories over the long term, they cannot slaughter their way to legitimacy,” he added.
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