U.S. President Barack Obama asked his aides in the field of national security to review the strategy to combat the terrorist organization "Islamic state" (IS). It was reported by the TV channel CNN.
According to the channel, recently there were held four meetings of experts in Washington, one of which was chaired by Obama himself.
Senior U.S. officials and diplomats believe that it is impossible to win the IS without regime change in Syria and President Bashar Assad's removal. In this regard, Washington considers the initial strategy, which supposed to fight the "Islamic state" first in Iraq, then Syria, without an attempt to resign Assad, as inefficient one.
In Syria, the United States rely on the "moderate" opposition, represented by the "Free Syrian Army", which acts against the Syrian government troops and against radical Islamists from the IS and "Frente al-Nusra."
U.S. officials and diplomats say that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in recent months stepped up the discussions with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Russia. The subject of discussion is the possibility of a diplomatic way to resolve the issue of resignation of Assad and his inner circle, "saving a significant part of the regime and the state institutions".
In early September, Barack Obama introduced a new strategy against the IS. He announced the refusal of ground operations in Iraq, but the intensification of air strikes. At the same time, Obama said that Washington wants to create and lead a broad coalition to fight militants in Syria and Iraq. Also in September, an international coalition led by the United States began to apply the first airstrikes on the targets of the "Islamic state" in Syria.