US President Barack Obama says that Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria will only strengthen ISIL militants. <br /><br /> He claims Moscow is failing to distinguish between the so-called Islamic State and more moderate insurgents. <br /><br /> An approach Obama describes as a “recipe for disaster.”<br /><br /> “The reason Assad is still in power is because Russia and Iran have supported him. The moderate opposition in Syria is one that, if we are ever going to have a political transition, we need,” said the president.<br /><br /> “And the Russian policy is driving those folks underground or creating a situation in which they are decapacitated and it’s only strengthening ISIL.”<br /><br /> Obama said Russia risks being sucked into a quagmire it will find hard to get out of. <br /><br /> He also stressed that he does not want to turn the Syrian conflict into a “proxy war” between Washington and Moscow.
