U.S., Russia, Jordan reach ceasefire deal for southwest Syria

[Morch]

23 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Previously Assad had assisted with Sunni terrorism against the US in Iraq and has been mentioned a number of times Assad had enabled Sunni terrorism within Syria in an effort to gain sympathy from the international community. Could always be proven incorrect, but I seriously doubt the US would welcome Assad regaining total power as he has proven to be completely untrustworthy, especially with his prior efforts to destabilise his neighbours.

 

For those interested some background to the OP:

 

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/06/jordan-talks-washington-russia-safe-zones-border-syria.html

 

Other than expressing a negative attitude toward Assad, the current US ME policy (inasmuch as there one), doesn't seem to include any bright ideas on how to get there or what to do if and when it becomes a reality. Perhaps not a bad thing, considering all them bright ideas that went pear shaped over the years. I think the US will settle for a weakened Assad in place, mostly because the US is not in a position to do much about it.

 

The US's current focus is on defeating ISIS. Not necessarily the total eradication of ISIS, as this can prove a lengthy chore, but more to do with an effort resulting in some victory optics. Taking Mosul and Raqqa would do just fine. Then Trump could have his "mission accomplished" moment, and.....ok, the "and" bit is unclear. One school of thinking is that the US will attempt to divest itself from further entanglement. Probably more doable in Syria than Iraq. What that spells as far as Iran's involvement in Syria or the Kurds aspirations isn't clear. Could be that it would work out. Enough conflicting powers (excluding the US) to possibly neutralize each other without American  presence. Russia, Iran, Turkey, the Kurds and Assad all got different interests.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Morch

[ilostmypassword]

36 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Previously Assad had assisted with Sunni terrorism against the US in Iraq and it has been mentioned a number of times Assad had enabled Sunni terrorism, within Syria, in an effort to gain sympathy from the international community. Could always be proven incorrect, but I seriously doubt the US would welcome Assad regaining total power as he has proven to be completely untrustworthy, especially with his prior efforts to destabilise his neighbours.

 

For those interested some background to the OP:

 

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/06/jordan-talks-washington-russia-safe-zones-border-syria.html

Don't know if you can call it terrorism what he supported against the US since it  was primarily directed against the US military effort. 

Terrorism is a word that tends to paralyze thinking.

[simple1]

19 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Don't know if you can call it terrorism what he supported against the US since it  was primarily directed against the US military effort. 

Terrorism is a word that tends to paralyze thinking.

I would say that the Sunni Islamists enabled by Assad would not have solely focused on US personnel, thousands of murders of Shiite civilians, I differ with your assessment. 

Edited July 10, 2017 by simple1

[ilostmypassword]

We of the Syrian Surrender Monkey Party would like to welcome Donald Trump into our ranks. He did have us concerned for a bit there when he bombed that Syrian Air bus. But it turns out it was only his way of blowing kisses at President's Assad and Putin. I am sure that all Trump supporters who enthusiastically endorsed his tough stand against Assad and the Russians will now just as enthusiastically endorse his retreat.

 

Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow

 

President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials.

The program was a central plank of a policy begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to step aside, but even its backers have questioned its efficacy since Russia deployed forces in Syria two years later.

Officials said the phasing out of the secret program reflects Trump’s interest in finding ways to work with Russia, which saw the anti-Assad program as an assault on its interests. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-ends-covert-cia-program-to-arm-anti-assad-rebels-in-syria-a-move-sought-by-moscow/2017/07/19/b6821a62-6beb-11e7-96ab-5f38140b38cc_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_ciasyria-310pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.fa4a4e890e95

Edited July 20, 2017 by ilostmypassword

[Rancid]

It is interesting reading some comments from the US special forces in Jordan training the Jihadist moderates, seems they are not happy about it and see them as no different from ISIS. Remember the 3 Green Berets killed there not long ago?