Russian FM: US spares al-Qaida's branch to topple Assad

[webfact]

Russian FM: US spares al-Qaida's branch to topple Assad

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russia's foreign minister said Thursday that he believes the U.S. may hope to use al-Qaida's branch in Syria to unseat Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.

Addressing an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Sergey Lavrov argued that the reluctance of U.S.-backed Syrian opposition groups to distance themselves from al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, has been a major reason behind continuing fighting.

He said the U.S. could be "playing some kind of game here, and they may want to keep Nusra in some form and use it to topple the regime."

Lavrov added that he raised the issue in a recent phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who he said denied any such plans. "But why then the Americans with all their potential can't force the units they have been working with to leave the territories controlled by bandits and terrorists," he said.

Lavrov was commenting on Kerry's warning that Washington is losing its patience with Russia, as the U.S.- and Russia-brokered cease-fire in Syria was at risk mainly due to violations by Assad's forces with Russian air support.

The truce, which went into effect on Feb. 27, has helped reduce hostilities in certain areas of the country, but fierce fighting has continued around Aleppo and in some other provinces. Nusra and the Islamic State group have been exempt from the truce.

Russia at some point issued an ultimatum for opposition units to leave Nusra-controlled areas or face air strikes, but later agreed to give more time for them to pull out. Spared the Russian strikes, Nusra has used the moment to replenish its supplies and receive reinforcements, Lavrov said.

A senior U.S. defense official said Thursday that Russian aircraft conducted a series of airstrikes near al-Tanf against U.S.-backed Syrian forces. No U.S. forces were involved and there were no details on the number of casualties, the official said.

The official said that Russian aircraft haven't been active in that area of southern Syria for some time, and there were no Syrian regime or Russian ground forces in the vicinity.

The official said the strikes raise serious concerns about Russian intentions and that the U.S. has asked Moscow for an explanation and assurances it won't happen again. The official was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-06-17

[Norvid]

it looks to me like another Vietnam at the beginning.

[rethaier]

The USA needs to leave Assad alone and let him get on with rebuilding the country they (the USA) have almost destroyed. The USA, it seems, are the number 1 terrorist organization in the world today, just in front of Israel.

[HikeFromLA]

Shameful to see US working to protect Al Qaeda, isn't it?

Seems like Kerry wants Syria to be Libya all over again.

[JHolmesJr]

Very believable....bunch of hypocrites.

[Kiwiken]

Yes trying to create Syria into a new bastion of Democracy like Iraq and Libya. Keep your dirty fingers out of it.

[Mosha]

To quote Orwell. The war is not meant to be won.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[boomerangutang]

The enemy of my enemy of my enemy of my enemy is the friend of my friend of my ,........oh never mind, it's the Middle East, everyone is buggering everyone else, ......or wants to be.

[mrwebb8825]

So, the Russian-US brokered cease-fire only applies to "admitted" attacks and only to certain areas controlled by certain people backing certain ideas inline with the likeminded ideas of Russia OR the US? Sounds downright peaceful.

Once again, Trump makes good points. What the hell kind of deal is that?

[MisterTee]

To quote Orwell. The war is not meant to be won.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

George Orwell saw it coming...

Big Brother; Emmanuel Goldstein; the security state, and so much more.

[Publicus]

Putin never learns.

CCP Dictators in Beijing have benefited enormously by heavily engaging their economic development with the USA, in financing especially. India has gained much the past twenty years by an increasingly active political alignment with the USA to include strategically in the SCS, South Central Asia, and concerning Iran and the Gulf.

Putin on the other hand has encouraged Russian jihadists in the North Caucuses to fight in Syria figuring USA would help kill 'em off for him. Daesh is more the enemy of Russia than it is the USA which is why Putin focused on bombing hell out of 'em. Al Nusra keeps putting it to Putin to the point he's got FM Lavrov squawking to SecState John Kerry who continues to play the role of Obama's butler innocently spilling hot tea on Putin.

Putin chooses to instead wage hybrid wars against Georgia, Ukraine and now USA in Syria while Europe begins again to feel menaced by Putin as a 21st century territorial aggressor in EurAsia. So Putin's had the squeeze put on him in oil prices, the ruble, trade and technology, diplomacy, the collapse of his precious Brics countries; he's struggling (against Canada-USA mainly) to access resources in the Arctic and so much more that's whacked his government budget off by 50% and chopped 5% off GDP.

If Putin could cooperate on some one important thing such as do CCP and India respectively, Russia and Putin along with everyone else would be a lot better off. Instead Putin pursues his constant and unrelenting, eccentric and idiosyncratic irredentism and revanchism. Putin is a compulsive and nothing more than obsessive.

Russian elites have begun to recognise Putin suffers from a brain disease, i.e., ideology -- he is a Tsarist-Chekist who will never change. Which means a further development of Russia can become possible only if and when Putin is sent off to retirement on some tropical island. Or terminated in one way or the other by his own elites who can offer the population a way to restore progress based in stability and global respect.

[MisterTee]

Putin never learns.

CCP Dictators in Beijing have benefited enormously by heavily engaging their economic development with the USA, in financing especially. India has gained much the past twenty years by an increasingly active political alignment with the USA to include strategically in the SCS, South Central Asia, and concerning Iran and the Gulf.

Putin on the other hand has encouraged Russian jihadists in the North Caucuses to fight in Syria figuring USA would help kill 'em off for him. Daesh is more the enemy of Russia than it is the USA which is why Putin focused on bombing hell out of 'em. Al Nusra keeps putting it to Putin to the point he's got FM Lavrov squawking to SecState John Kerry who continues to play the role of Obama's butler innocently spilling hot tea on Putin.

Putin chooses to instead wage hybrid wars against Georgia, Ukraine and now USA in Syria while Europe begins again to feel menaced by Putin as a 21st century territorial aggressor in EurAsia. So Putin's had the squeeze put on him in oil prices, the ruble, trade and technology, diplomacy, the collapse of his precious Brics countries; he's struggling (against Canada-USA mainly) to access resources in the Arctic and so much more that's whacked his government budget off by 50% and chopped 5% off GDP.

If Putin could cooperate on some one important thing such as do CCP and India respectively, Russia and Putin along with everyone else would be a lot better off. Instead Putin pursues his constant and unrelenting, eccentric and idiosyncratic irredentism and revanchism. Putin is a compulsive and nothing more than obsessive.

Russian elites have begun to recognise Putin suffers from a brain disease, i.e., ideology -- he is a Tsarist-Chekist who will never change. Which means a further development of Russia can become possible only if and when Putin is sent off to retirement on some tropical island. Or terminated in one way or the other by his own elites who can offer the population a way to restore progress based in stability and global respect.

The view from Foggy Bottom.

Some of the points may be credible, but overall it's just the usual warmongering hogwash from the USA.

[Kiwiken]

I would put it in a slightly different Perspective. The Soviet Union, then Russia have been led by weak Leaders namely Gorbachev and Yeltsin. The break up of the Soviet Union and the economic chaos that followed. Rather than being utilised by the West to help Russia emerge as stable and Democratic state in the East was seized upon by Western Capitalist opportunists who attempted to crush the Russian Spirit. Putin sees himself as the champion of Mother Russia as if you look closer is trying to reassert Russia's sphere of influence as it existed in Tsarist times. The USA likes to pin prick and so tries to influence and control states on Russia's borders. This of course causes Russia to respond in an aggressive manner. Much like if Russia was to form an alliance with Mexico or Canada therefore by implication threatening the USA with a land borne threat. I have Russian friends so I listen to their perspective. This I have written is my own. Trying to balance my Western orientated view with how they explain things to me.

There are many times I look with disdain at how the big powers interfere and destabilise states to posture. Sadly we learn little from history.

Was it not Satayana that said "Those who do not learn from the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them"

[LawrenceChee]

The USA have interfered and tried to play political globally without thinking Long term and that has always been the problem

They like to go in for short term wins by bombing some stuff and then left clueless with what to do next ...this is classic let's arm someone and see if that would tilt something strategy that has worked to no success and yet the USA continue to be fooled by their "tribal" allies and think it makes a difference

When it comes to brutal force mentality to completely crush the enemy the USA will balk and back away ...same reason why during WWII Russians were more brutal and moped up the Germans inland ...the Russian troops did a lot of crap stuff on the side but they know how to crush an enemy and make them feel the blows and lose the will to fight

The USA have repeatedly meddled in middle eastern affairs and think they know it all and yet the geo complexity of the place is the reason why it should be left alone for the tribes to sort it out themselves and kill each other at will without any foreign interference

If they have lived thousands of years and accept that as their culture of killings why do we want to tell them it's wrong and interfere and cause a global tilt to the problem ?

[LawrenceChee]

Putin never learns.

CCP Dictators in Beijing have benefited enormously by heavily engaging their economic development with the USA, in financing especially. India has gained much the past twenty years by an increasingly active political alignment with the USA to include strategically in the SCS, South Central Asia, and concerning Iran and the Gulf.

Putin on the other hand has encouraged Russian jihadists in the North Caucuses to fight in Syria figuring USA would help kill 'em off for him. Daesh is more the enemy of Russia than it is the USA which is why Putin focused on bombing hell out of 'em. Al Nusra keeps putting it to Putin to the point he's got FM Lavrov squawking to SecState John Kerry who continues to play the role of Obama's butler innocently spilling hot tea on Putin.

Putin chooses to instead wage hybrid wars against Georgia, Ukraine and now USA in Syria while Europe begins again to feel menaced by Putin as a 21st century territorial aggressor in EurAsia. So Putin's had the squeeze put on him in oil prices, the ruble, trade and technology, diplomacy, the collapse of his precious Brics countries; he's struggling (against Canada-USA mainly) to access resources in the Arctic and so much more that's whacked his government budget off by 50% and chopped 5% off GDP.

If Putin could cooperate on some one important thing such as do CCP and India respectively, Russia and Putin along with everyone else would be a lot better off. Instead Putin pursues his constant and unrelenting, eccentric and idiosyncratic irredentism and revanchism. Putin is a compulsive and nothing more than obsessive.

Russian elites have begun to recognise Putin suffers from a brain disease, i.e., ideology -- he is a Tsarist-Chekist who will never change. Which means a further development of Russia can become possible only if and when Putin is sent off to retirement on some tropical island. Or terminated in one way or the other by his own elites who can offer the population a way to restore progress based in stability and global respect.

The arrogance to use words like CCP dictators is the reason why USA is never successful in foreign affairs

It feels there is no equal and treats other parties and countries with disrespect and then expect them to cooperate

From now on....USA will be called Ninny Whinny Busybody Sam in Washington in my future postings ...lets see how that helps creates a more harmonious environment

[Rancid]

Putin never learns.

CCP Dictators in Beijing have benefited enormously by heavily engaging their economic development with the USA, in financing especially. India has gained much the past twenty years by an increasingly active political alignment with the USA to include strategically in the SCS, South Central Asia, and concerning Iran and the Gulf.

Putin on the other hand has encouraged Russian jihadists in the North Caucuses to fight in Syria figuring USA would help kill 'em off for him. Daesh is more the enemy of Russia than it is the USA which is why Putin focused on bombing hell out of 'em. Al Nusra keeps putting it to Putin to the point he's got FM Lavrov squawking to SecState John Kerry who continues to play the role of Obama's butler innocently spilling hot tea on Putin.

Putin chooses to instead wage hybrid wars against Georgia, Ukraine and now USA in Syria while Europe begins again to feel menaced by Putin as a 21st century territorial aggressor in EurAsia. So Putin's had the squeeze put on him in oil prices, the ruble, trade and technology, diplomacy, the collapse of his precious Brics countries; he's struggling (against Canada-USA mainly) to access resources in the Arctic and so much more that's whacked his government budget off by 50% and chopped 5% off GDP.

If Putin could cooperate on some one important thing such as do CCP and India respectively, Russia and Putin along with everyone else would be a lot better off. Instead Putin pursues his constant and unrelenting, eccentric and idiosyncratic irredentism and revanchism. Putin is a compulsive and nothing more than obsessive.

Russian elites have begun to recognise Putin suffers from a brain disease, i.e., ideology -- he is a Tsarist-Chekist who will never change. Which means a further development of Russia can become possible only if and when Putin is sent off to retirement on some tropical island. Or terminated in one way or the other by his own elites who can offer the population a way to restore progress based in stability and global respect.

Wow, there really are many people that swallow the corporate media version of reality hook, line and sinker.

Look loving your country but disliking its government policies isn't being a traitor, it's being a true patriot. Engage in some wider reading (and not just RT which also has an agenda), the world really isn't the way FOX News presents it.

When the penny finally drops most get pretty angry about the lies we've been told most of our lives. It really is a blue pill/red pill moment. Some conspiracies are real, others are nonsense, no black and white out there, just numerous shades of grey, but making some sense of it all starts with objectivity.

[arjunadawn]

Save al nursa? Why not? By any accepted metric the US is the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world today. Russian observations of this do not create the fact. From creating the Arab Spring to standing up DAESH to every other meddling to create the appearance of tension- Sunni Shia, Iran massive wealth transfer, boko Haram, Libya, Free Syrian Army, AQII, AQIS...the US fosters terrorism on planet earth!

The US fosters terrorism and cultivates 'color revolutions' as pre-terrorist proxy armies to (ostensibly) non-violently act out the same goals in target countries (in much the same way an underground is established to support insurgents in a population). Both have been the non-stop tools of US hard and soft power since the mid 90s.

The FM is correct. The FM is only agreeing with other top American former generals/analysts that under Obama America has switched sides in the war on terror. (A shocking assertion hardly common even in America's rough and tumble politics): http://www.aim.org/benghazi/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CCB-Interim-Report-4-22-2014.pdf

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ccdeANvo2bg

[Publicus]

One response here is trite (MisterTee), the next one is glib (Kiwiken) and the other is fantasy (Lawrence Chee).

Putin intervened in Syria because of the great 16-month successful campaign of US supported forces against Assad's regular and his special murderous operations forces. US supported rebels were outside the Assad stronghold of Aleppo while other rebel forces were bombarding the palace grounds in Damascus from its close-in suburbs. The Syrian army had been in an ongoing rout.

Putin could not risk seeing the US succeed against Assad and Russia had its naval base of long standing on the Med. Now however that Putin is literally spent in Syria and downscaling his military operations substantially and significantly, he's got FM Lavrov complaining to SecState Kerry. Kerry says he'd like to help out but golly whiz matters seem beyond his control and that he certainly has no hand in the recent Putin setbacks.

Putin's voluntary involvement in Syria is effectively ended with Assad still in need of foreign support and propping up. Putin's self-vaunted super hightech air defense system has not stopped or slowed down US air assaults against Assad's tired and dispirited forces, as just last week US naval air forces struck from the carrier Harry S. Truman in the Med.

The fortunes of the Assad regime ebb and flow and are once again hard pressed as the US has demonstrated it is in this contest of wills for the long and grinding haul. The sustainability of the US in the conflict derives from the fact none of its large unit or maneuver ground forces are involved (as they had been in Iraq) while it relies on proxy fighters guided by a limited number of US quality special operations forces on the ground supported tactically by US air-sea power.

The US budget can sustain this, Putin's budget cannot while Putin's military machine in Syria continues to suffer its greatest and constant vulnerability, i.e., wear and tear.

Meanwhile the lessons of Lybia and Iraq have been learned in Washington, i.e., in the end rebel groups can be disappeared as quickly as they magically appeared. If not even faster.

Edited June 19, 2016 by Publicus

[Publicus]

Putin never learns.

CCP Dictators in Beijing have benefited enormously by heavily engaging their economic development with the USA, in financing especially. India has gained much the past twenty years by an increasingly active political alignment with the USA to include strategically in the SCS, South Central Asia, and concerning Iran and the Gulf.

Putin on the other hand has encouraged Russian jihadists in the North Caucuses to fight in Syria figuring USA would help kill 'em off for him. Daesh is more the enemy of Russia than it is the USA which is why Putin focused on bombing hell out of 'em. Al Nusra keeps putting it to Putin to the point he's got FM Lavrov squawking to SecState John Kerry who continues to play the role of Obama's butler innocently spilling hot tea on Putin.

Putin chooses to instead wage hybrid wars against Georgia, Ukraine and now USA in Syria while Europe begins again to feel menaced by Putin as a 21st century territorial aggressor in EurAsia. So Putin's had the squeeze put on him in oil prices, the ruble, trade and technology, diplomacy, the collapse of his precious Brics countries; he's struggling (against Canada-USA mainly) to access resources in the Arctic and so much more that's whacked his government budget off by 50% and chopped 5% off GDP.

If Putin could cooperate on some one important thing such as do CCP and India respectively, Russia and Putin along with everyone else would be a lot better off. Instead Putin pursues his constant and unrelenting, eccentric and idiosyncratic irredentism and revanchism. Putin is a compulsive and nothing more than obsessive.

Russian elites have begun to recognise Putin suffers from a brain disease, i.e., ideology -- he is a Tsarist-Chekist who will never change. Which means a further development of Russia can become possible only if and when Putin is sent off to retirement on some tropical island. Or terminated in one way or the other by his own elites who can offer the population a way to restore progress based in stability and global respect.

Wow, there really are many people that swallow the corporate media version of reality hook, line and sinker.

Look loving your country but disliking its government policies isn't being a traitor, it's being a true patriot. Engage in some wider reading (and not just RT which also has an agenda), the world really isn't the way FOX News presents it.

When the penny finally drops most get pretty angry about the lies we've been told most of our lives. It really is a blue pill/red pill moment. Some conspiracies are real, others are nonsense, no black and white out there, just numerous shades of grey, but making some sense of it all starts with objectivity.

Look loving your country but disliking its government policies isn't being a traitor, it's being a true patriot. Engage in some wider reading (and not just RT which also has an agenda), the world really isn't the way FOX News presents it.

If you're not posting to the wrong thread you are certainly posting to the wrong poster.

You haven't any clue of where I am or where I am coming from. Do try to get a handle on it plse thx. You are embarrassing yourself.

[Publicus]

Save al nursa? Why not? By any accepted metric the US is the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world today. Russian observations of this do not create the fact. From creating the Arab Spring to standing up DAESH to every other meddling to create the appearance of tension- Sunni Shia, Iran massive wealth transfer, boko Haram, Libya, Free Syrian Army, AQII, AQIS...the US fosters terrorism on planet earth!

The US fosters terrorism and cultivates 'color revolutions' as pre-terrorist proxy armies to (ostensibly) non-violently act out the same goals in target countries (in much the same way an underground is established to support insurgents in a population). Both have been the non-stop tools of US hard and soft power since the mid 90s.

The FM is correct. The FM is only agreeing with other top American former generals/analysts that under Obama America has switched sides in the war on terror. (A shocking assertion hardly common even in America's rough and tumble politics): http://www.aim.org/benghazi/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CCB-Interim-Report-4-22-2014.pdf

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ccdeANvo2bg

Tell us again please how Obama supports ISIS -- against the United States.

[DaddyWarbucks]

Putin never learns.

CCP Dictators in Beijing have benefited enormously by heavily engaging their economic development with the USA, in financing especially. India has gained much the past twenty years by an increasingly active political alignment with the USA to include strategically in the SCS, South Central Asia, and concerning Iran and the Gulf.

Putin on the other hand has encouraged Russian jihadists in the North Caucuses to fight in Syria figuring USA would help kill 'em off for him. Daesh is more the enemy of Russia than it is the USA which is why Putin focused on bombing hell out of 'em. Al Nusra keeps putting it to Putin to the point he's got FM Lavrov squawking to SecState John Kerry who continues to play the role of Obama's butler innocently spilling hot tea on Putin.

Putin chooses to instead wage hybrid wars against Georgia, Ukraine and now USA in Syria while Europe begins again to feel menaced by Putin as a 21st century territorial aggressor in EurAsia. So Putin's had the squeeze put on him in oil prices, the ruble, trade and technology, diplomacy, the collapse of his precious Brics countries; he's struggling (against Canada-USA mainly) to access resources in the Arctic and so much more that's whacked his government budget off by 50% and chopped 5% off GDP.

If Putin could cooperate on some one important thing such as do CCP and India respectively, Russia and Putin along with everyone else would be a lot better off. Instead Putin pursues his constant and unrelenting, eccentric and idiosyncratic irredentism and revanchism. Putin is a compulsive and nothing more than obsessive.

Russian elites have begun to recognise Putin suffers from a brain disease, i.e., ideology -- he is a Tsarist-Chekist who will never change. Which means a further development of Russia can become possible only if and when Putin is sent off to retirement on some tropical island. Or terminated in one way or the other by his own elites who can offer the population a way to restore progress based in stability and global respect.

Wow, there really are many people that swallow the corporate media version of reality hook, line and sinker.

Look loving your country but disliking its government policies isn't being a traitor, it's being a true patriot. Engage in some wider reading (and not just RT which also has an agenda), the world really isn't the way FOX News presents it.

When the penny finally drops most get pretty angry about the lies we've been told most of our lives. It really is a blue pill/red pill moment. Some conspiracies are real, others are nonsense, no black and white out there, just numerous shades of grey, but making some sense of it all starts with objectivity.

Good response to a verbose ​spinmeister.

​​The Samuel Johnson line is still the best and the truest - "P​atriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

​​Not because there is not such a thing as genuine patriotism; but it tends to get buried under tons of claptrap.

The vast majority of the time, people invoke patriotism in defense of principals that they can't logically defend in any other way.

[LawrenceChee]

No fantasy here Comrade P ....

Every thing that Ninny Whinny Busybody Sam touches in the Middle East turns into shit situation for the rest of the world

About time they just focus on their domestic issues ...they have 2 duds to choose from for the next POTUS ...that should be enough internal destruction to worry about

Edited June 19, 2016 by LawrenceChee

[Kiwiken]

One response here is trite (MisterTee), the next one is glib (Kiwiken) and the other is fantasy (Lawrence Chee).

Putin intervened in Syria because of the great 16-month successful campaign of US supported forces against Assad's regular and his special murderous operations forces. US supported rebels were outside the Assad stronghold of Aleppo while other rebel forces were bombarding the palace grounds in Damascus from its close-in suburbs. The Syrian army had been in an ongoing rout.

Putin could not risk seeing the US succeed against Assad and Russia had its naval base of long standing on the Med. Now however that Putin is literally spent in Syria and downscaling his military operations substantially and significantly, he's got FM Lavrov complaining to SecState Kerry. Kerry says he'd like to help out but golly whiz matters seem beyond his control and that he certainly has no hand in the recent Putin setbacks.

Putin's voluntary involvement in Syria is effectively ended with Assad still in need of foreign support and propping up. Putin's self-vaunted super hightech air defense system has not stopped or slowed down US air assaults against Assad's tired and dispirited forces, as just last week US naval air forces struck from the carrier Harry S. Truman in the Med.

The fortunes of the Assad regime ebb and flow and are once again hard pressed as the US has demonstrated it is in this contest of wills for the long and grinding haul. The sustainability of the US in the conflict derives from the fact none of its large unit or maneuver ground forces are involved (as they had been in Iraq) while it relies on proxy fighters guided by a limited number of US quality special operations forces on the ground supported tactically by US air-sea power.

The US budget can sustain this, Putin's budget cannot while Putin's military machine in Syria continues to suffer its greatest and constant vulnerability, i.e., wear and tear.

Meanwhile the lessons of Lybia and Iraq have been learned in Washington, i.e., in the end rebel groups can be disappeared as quickly as they magically appeared. If not even faster.

I object my statement being called Glib fluent but insincere and shallow. They are not insincere and certainly not shallow.

[Publicus]

Putin intervened in Syria to save Assad because President Obama had had Assad's army routed and on its heels. Rebel forces were outside the Assad stronghold of Aleppo and other rebel elements were shelling the president's palace and walled grounds from the close-in suburbs of Damascus.

Assad was on the ropes so Putin moved in. Now Putin is spent and is gradually moving out. Assad is no better for it.

Those who want glibly to try to introduce and argue "patriotism" would need to also address EU "patriotism" or some such sentiment in the councils of Europe collectively or individually as member states of the EU.

EU says Assad is ‘starting point’ of change in Syria

EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini has said that Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad should be included in a political transition to end the conflict in the country.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Wednesday, Mogherini said that "I think we have learned from the Iraqi lessons that we need to guarantee that political processes and transitions need to guarantee not only the safety, but also the inclusiveness for all components of societies in the process."

"And this is what we're working at - so a transition where for sure Assad is and will be part of the starting point," she added.

http://www.trtworld.com/mea/eu-says-assad-is-starting-point-of-change-in-syria-9898

The global right that are trite by being ready to throw around and to lecture and scold using the word 'patriot' argue nothing. It is a cheap and vacuous approach. Everything is practical, not emotional.

The people who support Putin and the CCP Dictators in Beijing would need to know that several years ago the Dictators attempted unsuccessfully to insert themselves politically into the ME and its eternal barbarism. Beijing wanted to be a part of the political chaos that dominates the region. However, the CCP Boyz were sent away by Israel and the Arab leaders and elites alike, due the ME being "too complex" for the Chinese to know or to understand from their distant and historically closed world. (It was after all the Mediterranean Europeans who first ventured to China rather than vice-versa.)

Beijing btw won the Iraq war in economic terms as CCP is drilling oil throughout the south of Iraq, from Baghdad to Basra especially while Daesh and other 'rebel' groups leave the Chinese to be, free from any difficulties or interference. So somebody's paying off and supporting somebody over there.

Edited June 20, 2016 by Publicus

[LawrenceChee]

Yes remove Assad just like you guys removed Saddam and believe this will create stability

What's the plan after ?

Give them voting slips for trump and Clinton and let them participate in a good old American tradition of democracy and freedom and have a 4th of July BBQ ...heck invite the 2016 NBA champions there for a game in the desert

Hope there will never be another tribal war because the folks can all now vote and all happy

Woohoo ....areeghhhhhh

Naive American Foreign Policy ...

[Hammock]

Yes remove Assad just like you guys removed Saddam and believe this will create stability

What's the plan after ?

Give them voting slips for trump and Clinton and let them participate in a good old American tradition of democracy and freedom and have a 4th of July BBQ ...heck invite the 2016 NBA champions there for a game in the desert

Hope there will never be another tribal war because the folks can all now vote and all happy

Woohoo ....areeghhhhhh

Naive American Foreign Policy ...

" we don't have any plan" .... forgot who said that.

[Credo]

Yes remove Assad just like you guys removed Saddam and believe this will create stability

What's the plan after ?

Give them voting slips for trump and Clinton and let them participate in a good old American tradition of democracy and freedom and have a 4th of July BBQ ...heck invite the 2016 NBA champions there for a game in the desert

Hope there will never be another tribal war because the folks can all now vote and all happy

Woohoo ....areeghhhhhh

Naive American Foreign Policy ...

" we don't have any plan" .... forgot who said that.

There is no plan because the US has little interest in Syria. There has been little to no relationship with Syria dating back to Assad Sr. There are no businesses interests. In spite of what is said, the US has no concerns about a pipeline that would bring Oil/gas to Europe. The attempt to overthrow Assad was by his own people, not by the US. The enemy being fought is ISIS and AQ.

So, no the US won't be removing Assad. The call by the US was for Assad to step down.

The country that has a stake in Syria is Russia. They are the only ones that have something to lose.

[LawrenceChee]

Yes remove Assad just like you guys removed Saddam and believe this will create stability

What's the plan after ?

Give them voting slips for trump and Clinton and let them participate in a good old American tradition of democracy and freedom and have a 4th of July BBQ ...heck invite the 2016 NBA champions there for a game in the desert

Hope there will never be another tribal war because the folks can all now vote and all happy

Woohoo ....areeghhhhhh

Naive American Foreign Policy ...

" we don't have any plan" .... forgot who said that.

There is no plan because the US has little interest in Syria. There has been little to no relationship with Syria dating back to Assad Sr. There are no businesses interests. In spite of what is said, the US has no concerns about a pipeline that would bring Oil/gas to Europe. The attempt to overthrow Assad was by his own people, not by the US. The enemy being fought is ISIS and AQ.

So, no the US won't be removing Assad. The call by the US was for Assad to step down.

The country that has a stake in Syria is Russia. They are the only ones that have something to lose.

You don't get it right ? USA has no interests in Syria and yet stepped in to create a situation that has quickly spun out of control

All these peace truce will not have happen if the west didn't insist on removing Assad along with all the strong man in Arab spring

These regions respect crazy rulers like Saddam and Assad who looks cruel on the onset but they keep the peace

By playing in the last 15 years in this region with zero concrete plans the west have created a region a boiling with conflicts and risks for groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS to prosper

Would these groups survive in a Saddam regime ? Saddam is an ass in many ways but t he kept the peace with his brutal force

In impolite terms , he was hard ass and crazy enough and that kept his enemies all cried out and no one dare to do anything stupid

He sucked the motivation for them to be a terrorist

[Credo]

You obviously didn't spend much time in Iraq. You might want to read about the Anfal campaign and the situation with the Shiites in the South. He also took Kuwait.

The region was hugely unstable and Iran and Iraq were (and may still be) on a collision course. The difference is that little that went on inside the country was information that was available to the outside world. Whether there would be terrorist groups and how they would be handled is largely unknown and simply speculation. Oil is an operative factor and keeping the supply lines open is important. Syria is not that big of a producer of oil.

There was no plan for Syria by the US because the US has no interests in it. If Russia wants to step on the terrorist groups, the US will gladly step out of the situation with Syria. It is Russia who wants Assad, and it is much of the rest of Syria that does not.

By the way, I've lived there and worked there. Have you spent much time in the country or are you just being an armchair quarterback?

[Hammock]

Russians say they want president elections to be held in Syria, let Syrians decide themselves who will be their president AFAIK.