Anti-Assad nations say no to Syria reconstruction until political process on track

[webfact]

Anti-Assad nations say no to Syria reconstruction until political process on track

By John Irish and Yara Bayoumy

 

Pupils walk on debris in al-Saflaniyeh in eastern Aleppo's countryside, Syria September 17, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States, Britain and other countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not support the reconstruction of the country until there is a political transition "away from Assad," British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Monday.

 

The “Friends of Syria” group, an alliance of mainly Western and Gulf Arab countries, met in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly at a time when the conflict in Syria, now in its seventh year, appears to be less urgent with attention focused on the North Korean nuclear threat and the fate of the Iran nuclear deal.

 

"We believe that the only way forward is to get a political process going and to make it clear to the Iranians, Russians and Assad regime that we, the like-minded group, will not support the reconstruction of Syria until there is such a political process and that means, as Resolution 2254 says, to a transition away from Assad," Johnson said.

 

He was speaking after a meeting of about 14 countries that back the Syrian opposition including France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.

 

The U.N. Security Council has adopted a Syria transition road map through a Geneva-led process.

 

Russia joined the war on Assad’s behalf in 2015, turning the momentum in his favour. Assad also enjoys robust support from Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the moderate Syrian opposition is moribund and the United States has largely stepped back from a leading role in Syrian diplomacy.

 

Earlier this year the Trump administration also halted the CIA’s covert program to equip and train certain rebel groups fighting Assad.

 

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Satterfield, said all those at the meeting agreed that “there has got to be a political process if there is to be any international participation in the reconstruction of Syria.”

 

"The regime and the regime supporters cannot declare a victory solely based on a map and colours of positions on the ground,” Satterfield said.

 

“The reconstruction of Syria depends very much on that credible political process. That political process is focused on Geneva and the role of the United Nations.”

 

BACK TO GENEVA

 

The meeting on Monday was in stark contrast to last year's which took place after a ceasefire deal between the United States and Russia effectively collapsed when an aid convoy was bombed in Aleppo, Syria's largest city.

 

Aleppo is now in the hands of Assad's forces and Assad himself is in a much stronger position, thanks to Russian and Iranian support.

 

The last major international attempt to resolve the crisis ended in failure when the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which included Iran, was cast aside after Syrian government forces retook the rebel stronghold of Aleppo in 2016.

 

Russia, Turkey and Iran have been negotiating separately for months in Astana to try to reduce the violence on the ground by creating de-escalation zones across the country, although those talks do not cover a long-term political solution,

 

"We discussed here how to bring it back to the U.N.-led process and Geneva," Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström told Reuters.

 

Asked if there was consensus on that, she said "I would say so."

 

"It's good if the Astana process leads to de-escalation and a reduction of the violence but it has to lead into the political process."

 

Earlier on Monday, France warned that the status quo in Syria risked leading to the country's permanent fragmentation and opening the door to new radical Islamist groups.

 

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in New York he would hold a meeting with the four other permanent members of the Security Council - Britain, China, Russia and the United States - on Thursday to persuade them to create a contact group to give new impetus to end the seven-year conflict.

 

Le Drian said "realism" dictated that Assad could not stay in power after millions of Syrians had fled the country due to the war, but that it was vital major powers worked together to help revive U.N.-brokered peace talks in Geneva.

 

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said the French contact group proposal was not discussed at the Friends of Syria meeting.

 

But Riyad Hijab, a prominent Syrian opposition leader, said he told French President Emmanuel Macron that the initiative was important in part because "of American withdrawal and Russia is dominating the entire process. So Mr. Macron's initiative is the right way to fix this because it's vital all five (permanent Security Council members) are involved in the process."

 

(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols and Rodrigo Campos; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and John Irish; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Mary Milliken)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-19

[Credo]

Sadly, this is approaching the time when the true cost of war will be seen and it will be interesting to see who pays.   

 

I suspect Europe will pitch in, if for no other reason than having a place to send those not deemed to be refugees.   

[JoePai]

11 minutes ago, Credo said:

Sadly, this is approaching the time when the true cost of war will be seen and it will be interesting to see who pays.   

 

I suspect Europe will pitch in, if for no other reason than having a place to send those not deemed to be refugees.   

To answer your question - Russia and Iran as it was those 2 countries which have propped up Assad and prolonged the war

[ilostmypassword]

1 minute ago, JoePai said:

To answer your question - Russia and Iran as it was those 2 countries which have propped up Assad and prolonged the war

As opposed to the countries that supported the Islamists? They didn't prolong the war?

[Credo]

8 minutes ago, JoePai said:

To answer your question - Russia and Iran as it was those 2 countries which have propped up Assad and prolonged the war

It will be interesting to see how much assistance they are going to give to reconstruction.   I don't think either of them have much of a history of humanitarian efforts.   

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He was speaking after a meeting of about 14 countries that back the Syrian opposition including France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.

Wow.  So it's not just "Washington" who's involved in this. LOL

[tonbridgebrit]

3 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Wow.  So it's not just "Washington" who's involved in this. LOL

Correct, France and others wanted Assad out, not just Washington. And bearing in mind that Washington, France, Britain, etc, wanted Assad out, well, it's not surprising that they're not going to help pay for Syria's re-construction.


The important thing though, is, is that the war is over. The above article actually says "earlier this year the Trump administration also halted the CIA’s covert program to equip and train certain rebel groups fighting Assad."
Trump, God bless him, can see sense, and he's ending this war.

Okay, if whatever countries don't wish to take part in re-building Syria, well, that's up to those countries. Ending the war allows Russia and Iran to help the Syrians re-build their country. That's got to be better than seeing Syria in a wrecked state for decades.

[tonbridgebrit]

Let's look at history, let's look at Vietnam.

Vietnam was massively destroyed by the war. Who helped to re-build Vietnam ? Did Washington and France help to re-build Vietnam ?

And today, the Vietnamese have re-built their nation. Washington and Europe don't have a problem with Vietnam today. Washington and Europe are almost 'friends' with Vietnam. The point is, fight a war against them, but in the future, we will probably be friends with them. Can the same happen with Syria ?

[craigt3365]

12 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

Correct, France and others wanted Assad out, not just Washington. And bearing in mind that Washington, France, Britain, etc, wanted Assad out, well, it's not surprising that they're not going to help pay for Syria's re-construction.


The important thing though, is, is that the war is over. The above article actually says "earlier this year the Trump administration also halted the CIA’s covert program to equip and train certain rebel groups fighting Assad."
Trump, God bless him, can see sense, and he's ending this war.

Okay, if whatever countries don't wish to take part in re-building Syria, well, that's up to those countries. Ending the war allows Russia and Iran to help the Syrians re-build their country. That's got to be better than seeing Syria in a wrecked state for decades.

Wow!  You've included other countries in your statement.  I'm impressed!

 

The war isn't over.  Far from it.  Negotiations are underway for cease fire zones.  But that's not been agreed upon yet.

 

Russia should be there knee deep in the re-building effort.  We'll see...The US did a great job with Japan.  It's now a global powerhouse. Same with South Korea, Germany, etc, etc, etc.

[craigt3365]

9 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

Let's look at history, let's look at Vietnam.

Vietnam was massively destroyed by the war. Who helped to re-build Vietnam ? Did Washington and France help to re-build Vietnam ?

And today, the Vietnamese have re-built their nation. Washington and Europe don't have a problem with Vietnam today. Washington and Europe are almost 'friends' with Vietnam. The point is, fight a war against them, but in the future, we will probably be friends with them. Can the same happen with Syria ?

The US was kicked out. Why would they help to rebuild? LOL 

 

The question is, did Russia and China help?  Hmmm...didn't China go back to war with Vietnam in 1979? LOL.  Great partners.

 

The US has no problems with the people of Syria.  Just Assad.  Same with most Western nations.  Same with many inside Syria.  He's the main sticking point.

[simple1]

Quite an interesting article below on the challenges for rebuilding Syria, not as straightforward as a rather odd individual seems to think. I would guess the vested interests of Assad supporters (read corruption and blood feuds) will make an already extremely challenging task to reunify the country even more complex, if cessation of fighting is actually achieved any time soon.

 

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/it-s-time-to-plan-for-rebuilding-syria

[connda]

No problem.  The 'anti-Assad' nations aren't the ones paying for reconstruction.  It's a moot point.

[Credo]

2 hours ago, connda said:

No problem.  The 'anti-Assad' nations aren't the ones paying for reconstruction.  It's a moot point.

By and large it is the anti-Assad nations that are hosting the thousands, if not millions of refugees, who may have trouble safely returning to an Assad run country.   

 

[tonbridgebrit]

11 hours ago, simple1 said:

 

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/it-s-time-to-plan-for-rebuilding-syria

Just read the above link. Notice how the "Atlantic Council" themselves write "most of the country is controlled either by terrorist groups or by a weak, isolated central government in Damascus."

Yes, I suppose we'ill have to wait for the weak isolated central government in Damascus to remove the terrorist groups, and then we will see the re-building of Syria.

[simple1]

6 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

Just read the above link. Notice how the "Atlantic Council" themselves write "most of the country is controlled either by terrorist groups or by a weak, isolated central government in Damascus."

Yes, I suppose we'ill have to wait for the weak isolated central government in Damascus to remove the terrorist groups, and then we will see the re-building of Syria.

Think you have missed the point.. The regime itself is a major causal factor for splintering Syria into self serving violent factions.

[tonbridgebrit]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

Think you have missed the point.. The regime itself is a major causal factor for splintering Syria into self serving violent factions.

What ??
If Assad and his regime was removed (and this will happen if Russia and Iran/Hezbollah stop supporting him) well, the self serving violent factions will still be there, right ?

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, tonbridgebrit said:

Just read the above link. Notice how the "Atlantic Council" themselves write "most of the country is controlled either by terrorist groups or by a weak, isolated central government in Damascus."

Yes, I suppose we'ill have to wait for the weak isolated central government in Damascus to remove the terrorist groups, and then we will see the re-building of Syria.

ISIS will eventually be removed.  The rebels are supported by Turkey and a coalition of Western nations.  Syria will never be the same.  Never.  Great job Assad!  You've lost territory. LOL

[simple1]

1 hour ago, tonbridgebrit said:

What ??
If Assad and his regime was removed (and this will happen if Russia and Iran/Hezbollah stop supporting him) well, the self serving violent factions will still be there, right ?

Woosh...

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

ISIS will eventually be removed.  The rebels are supported by Turkey and a coalition of Western nations.  Syria will never be the same.  Never.  Great job Assad!  You've lost territory. LOL

Hey Assad, you were pronounced as good as dead 4 years ago about by pretty much all the Western nations and lots of the Sunni ones. And yet you're still here. Great job, Assad!

Edited September 20, 2017 by ilostmypassword

[craigt3365]

2 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Hey Assad, you were pronounced as good as dead 4 years ago about by pretty much all the Western nations and lots of the Sunni ones. And yet you're still here. Great job, Assad!

You're sick.  Great job for killing thousands of his own people and displacing over 1/2 of the population.  How can you post that?  Absolutely incredible.  Beyond belief.  Horrible troll post.

 

You should go and live there in one of the towns under assault by Assad and his crew.  I bet your attitude would change drastically. 

 

P.S. I was on the border with Syria this year, in Lebanon.  I saw miles and miles of tent cities where the displaced were living.  Anybody who supports this type of stuff....well....nuff said.

[ilostmypassword]

16 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

You're sick.  Great job for killing thousands of his own people and displacing over 1/2 of the population.  How can you post that?  Absolutely incredible.  Beyond belief.  Horrible troll post.

 

You should go and live there in one of the towns under assault by Assad and his crew.  I bet your attitude would change drastically. 

 

P.S. I was on the border with Syria this year, in Lebanon.  I saw miles and miles of tent cities where the displaced were living.  Anybody who supports this type of stuff....well....nuff said.

You made a foolish emotional comment about Assad. I was just pointing that out.And every time that happens you pull the same tired trick of accusing the people who point out your tendentiousness of supporting said tyrant. It's the kind of rhetorical trick that lowlife politicans and demagogues pull. It's not an honest tactic.

Edited September 20, 2017 by ilostmypassword

[craigt3365]

6 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

You made a foolish emotional comment about Assad. I was just pointing that out.And every time that happens you pull the same tired trick of accusing the people who point out your tendentiousness of supporting said tyrant. It's the kind of rhetorical trick that lowlife politicans and demagogues pull. It's not an honest tactic.

Your exact words:

Quote

Great job, Assad!

Nuff said.  And don't call me a lowlife again.

[ilostmypassword]

9 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Your exact words:

Nuff said.  And don't call me a lowlife again.

Not exactly my entire quote, was it? Nor did you include what it was a response to.

And I did not call you a lowlife. Do you have a quote from me that proves otherwise?

Edited September 20, 2017 by ilostmypassword