War crimes ambassador: Russia, al-Assad regime vulnerable to prosecution Rapp rejected the idea, increasingly floated by Western leaders, that it may be acceptable for al-Assad to stay on in Syria temporarily while the world deals with ISIS.
"Even a relatively brief future for al-Assad in country" is untenable, Rapp said.
"I talked to a defecting Syrian general the other day, he said: 'We dropped thousands of bombs on the opposition; we've dropped one on ISIS.' You see where the Russians are dropping the bombs."
The vast majority of Russia's airstrikes have been against the anti-Assad opposition, not ISIS, the U.S. and NATO have said.
"This guy's useless against ISIS. He's helped create ISIS. This is not the future of Syria. The future of Syria includes Alawites, includes people from his community and others, but that has to come together."
"It can't be the future. Getting there, I know, is hard. But getting there with him is impossible."
Rapp was one of the strongest voices in the Obama administration for keeping the al-Assad regime's crimes on the agenda. Nonetheless, the White House has come under severe criticism -- especially in the wake of Russia's intervention on al-Assad's behalf -- for not doing enough to stem the bloodshed.
Rapp, clearly emotional, tried to steer clear of the politics.
"When a country like us intervenes militarily, it has consequences. We become the target. It causes other kinds of dynamics. It's a difficult situation, I understand, from a military standpoint. I've stayed away from that."
"Frankly, I'd be sympathetic to ideas like no fire zones and no fly zones, and that kind of thing, but frankly the most important thing, from my point of view, is that we continue to talk the truth about what's happening there. And to recognize the suffering of the people of that country."
"It's not just a war, it's not just dealing with the counterinsurgency; it's a government that's gone all-in against its own people. And the response to that needs to be that has consequences, and we need now to do everything we can to ensure that there's a Syria in which there's justice."
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/06/world/rapp-syria-amanpour/index.html?sr=tw100715rapp-syria-amanpour0400PMVODtop&linkId=17767559
