Metro Syrians: U.S. should have targeted Assad

ATLANTA — U.S.-led military attacks in Syria were focused on the wrong target, some metro Atlanta Syrians said Saturday.

Some said they don’t believe Syrian President Bashar Assad will be dissuaded from continuing to attack and kill his own people by the coordinated strikes that the United States, France and Britian carried out against three chemical-related sites in Syria. The airstrikes were in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack that left 49 civilians dead in Douma on April 7.

“I was a little bit disappointed that the airstrikes were very limited and, at the end of the day, the airstrikes were of no significance,” said Basel Allaw, a medical student at Emory University. “It gave Assad, (and Assad allies) Russia and Iran the license to continue to kill as long as they use conventional weapons. In order for airstrikes to be meaningful and of true significance, they have to target Assad and Russian military assets.”