'US will continue bombing Syria on premise of fighting Daesh'

The United States will continue bombing whomever they deem to be Daesh (ISIL) in Syria despite a ceasefire agreed between Washington and Moscow, says an international lawyer and political analyst.

Barry Grossman, who is based on the Indonesian island of Bali, made the remarks during an interview with Press TV while commenting on Saturday, after US President Barack Obama said the US would continue its fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria until the terrorist group ceases to exist.

Earlier this week, a cessation of hostilities was announced by the US and Russia in Syria following weeks of negotiations between the two countries. The landmark two-week ceasefire took effect on Friday midnight.

“President Obama’s comments confirm that the US will continue bombing Syria on the premise of fighting ISIL, despite the US brokered Syrian ceasefire which ISIL, al-Nusra and other designated terrorist groups affiliated with them were not invited to participate in,” Grossman said.

“Since it is no simple matter to identify and isolate ISIL affiliated insurgents on the ground, Obama’s comments imply that, notwithstanding the ceasefire, the US will continue targeting whomever they deem to be affiliated with the ISIL banner or otherwise to be terrorists,” he added.  

“Bearing in mind the terms of the ceasefire agreement and absurd claims long made by respected members of the US military establishment that ISIL is somehow connected with Bashar Assad’s government, it is quite conceivable that if any pro-government group like Hezbollah is drawn into conflict by anti-Assad insurgents, the US will attack their position on the pretense of fighting ISIL and other designated terrorist groups,” the analyst pointed out.

“Clearly the continuation of hostilities at the US-led coalition’s discretion is no way to ensure commitment to the ceasefire,” he stated.

“Meanwhile, reports attributed to officers in the US military command structure are emerging which claim that some US proxies in Syria are finding themselves in conflict with other US proxies who were trained to fight the Syrian army,” he noted.  

“All in all, it is difficult not to form the view that the ceasefire - which even Obama has conceded stands little chance of holding - was not conceived as a tactic to get pro-government forces to stand down just as the Syrian army at last managed to achieve a position of dominance from which to win the battle for Aleppo and break the back of the insurgency,” Grossman concluded. 

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk