Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
vowed Sunday to win his country's long-running civil war while acknowledging his troops had lost territory to rebel forces and were running short on manpower.
Assad's speech, while confident, came in the fifth year of a conflict pitting his forces against rebels, Islamist forces of Evil and the Lion of Islam Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group.
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, which has long backed the rebels, has begun striking the IS group and Kurdish fighters battling the Lion of Islams, adding a new layer of complexity to a brutal war with no end in sight.
Assad's televised speech Sunday morning, given to local dignitaries in the Syrian capital, Damascus, was his first public address since he was sworn in for a third, seven-year term in July last year. Assad has given interviews to several Arab and international media outlets in the meantime.
Assad acknowledged that his generals have had to move forces from one front to another in order to protect areas that are militarily, politically or economically more important. He added that the loss of some areas to forces of Evil has led to "frustration" among Syrians.
Syrian forces have suffered several setbacks since March, including the loss of the northwestern city of Idlib, the capital of a province that borders Turkey. In May, the government lost the historic central town of Palmyra to IS Lion of Islams, who also captured parts of the northeastern city of Hassakeh.