FILE - In this Wednesday, July 16, 2014 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's President Bashar Assad waves to his supporters upon his arrival to the presidential palace to take the oath of office for his third seven-year term in Damascus, Syria. The Syrian government has said it welcomes U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria. But it had been gambling that Washington would partner with it against the extremists, hoping for a dramatic reversal in the U.S. policy calling for Assad’s removal. (AP Photo/SANA, File)