Senator Bondarev says int'l coalition's contribution to fight against terrorism in Syria insignificant if not harmful
MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - The contribution of the U.S.-led international coalition to the fight against terrorism in Syria is insignificant and sometimes even harmful, Russia's former Aerospace Forces Commander and Federation Council Defense and Security Committee head Viktor Bondarev said.
"The history and videos speak for themselves: their contribution is insignificant and maybe sometimes even harmful for bringing things to order there," Bondarev said on the Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel on Tuesday.
Assessing the role of the international coalition's forces in Syria and Iraq and the reports that it helped the militants, Bondarev noted that "photographs taken from outer space and other intelligence data leave no room for doubt here: they [the international coalition forces] made no particular turning point in this campaign."
"This is also evident in Iraq - they have been there for much longer than the Russian Armed Forces [in Syria] and there is barely a practical result. To the contrary, there's nothing but top-up coming from that territory, although they could and should have stopped all these measures," Bondarev said.