Story highlights
Syrian opposition forces are fighting a two-front war
They are caught between ISIS and Syrian government troops
The U.S. has pledged to provide weapons and military training to moderate opposition forces
The head of a Syrian opposition group warns that military operations alone won’t be enough to defeat terrorist groups like ISIS – the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
“They cannot eliminate terrorism by only military operations. It has to be much, much more than military operations,” Hadi al-Bahra, the president of the Syrian National Coalition, said on ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
You have to have a social, political program. You have to provide a vision for the political life in all the Middle East.”
A U.S.-led coalition, including nations from the Middle East, have been pounding ISIS and other terror targets since last week. What’s unclear is whether airstrikes alone, without troops on the ground, will be enough to stop advancing ISIS fighters.
The United States has pledged to provide weapons and military training to moderate opposition forces in Syria.
Still, al-Bahra said those groups are already battered from a dual-front battle against ISIS and the Syrian government forces of President Bashar al-Assad
“We have been fighting ISIS and the Assad regime at the same time with very little help from the world,” al-Bahra said. “We cannot continue on the fight on two-fronts without the assistance of our friends in the U.S. and our other friends in the free world.”
Still, al-Bahra said the moderate opposition will eventually win their freedom.
“This is the future of our kids, of our granddaughters and sons. We have been fighting them since four years and the world had kept silent,” he said.
“But we, the people of Syria, will continue on our fight and we’ll fight to win back our freedom and we’ll achieve our quest for a democratic society.”