Obama: Putin not leading in Syria fight
- 9 years ago
President Barack Obama pushed back against claims that Vladimir Putin's recent military action in Syria is "challenging" American leadership in the middle East.
"If you think that running your economy into the ground and having to send troops in, in order to prop up your only ally is leadership, then we've got a different definition of leadership," Obama told CBS News.
Steve Kroft also asked Obama if he had any indication while meeting with Putin at the United Nations General Assembly that Russia was going to launch airstrikes in Syria the following day, to which President Obama answered that there was "pretty good intelligence".
"We knew that he was planning to -- provide the military assistance that Assad was needing because they were nervous about -- a potential imminent collapse of the regime."
In the interview Obama also addressed the faltering Syrian rebel training program saying, "there's no doubt that it did not work."
"If you think that running your economy into the ground and having to send troops in, in order to prop up your only ally is leadership, then we've got a different definition of leadership," Obama told CBS News.
Steve Kroft also asked Obama if he had any indication while meeting with Putin at the United Nations General Assembly that Russia was going to launch airstrikes in Syria the following day, to which President Obama answered that there was "pretty good intelligence".
"We knew that he was planning to -- provide the military assistance that Assad was needing because they were nervous about -- a potential imminent collapse of the regime."
In the interview Obama also addressed the faltering Syrian rebel training program saying, "there's no doubt that it did not work."