Just because the United States is striking targets of the terror groups Islamic State (ISIS) and Khorasan, doesn't mean America is now friendly with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, says former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.
Airstrikes by the United States and Arab allies began Monday, and while the purpose is ostensibly to protect America and its Western and Mideast allies, they also serve to strengthen Assad, who has been at war with ISIS for control of Syria.
"But that doesn't mean that it's to our advantage to see the Assad regime encouraged or built up or given any sense that the United States is now prepared to accept its continued existence, Bolton said Tuesday on Fox News Channel's
"On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."
Administration officials admitted Tuesday that Iran was among a number of nearby Mideast countries given a heads-up on the airstrikes, though the exact time and locations were not revealed. Bolton is among critics of the Obama administration for negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program.
"The difficultly here that the administration doesn't fully realize is that we've got multiple enemies sitting right next to each other," Bolton said.
Further, he said, the administration doesn't really want to be carrying out the airstrikes.
"They don't have their heart in it," he said.
Obama campaigned for president on ending America's decade-long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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