Exiled opposition factions from Syria, increasingly resigned to the reality of the situation on the ground and likewise worried about the rise of ISIS, are discussing a proposal for their next big meeting to leave President Bashar Assad in power.
Publicly, the opposition has long insisted that there is no discussion to be had with the Assad government without the understanding that Assad steps down immediately. The new proposal would call for elections in two years.
Even this is unlikely to actually happen, since the opposition has little power and Assad’s current term, having been reelected in 2014, extends through 2021, but it reflects a shift of the opposition toward Assad’s camp.
The US might be coming along for the ride, as CIA Director John Brennan was quoted yesterday as saying the US is “concerned” about the collapse of Syria if Assad was removed from power, despite continuing to publicly insist they want him gone.
Since the Syrian opposition is so heavily bankrolled by the US government, this may reflect the increasing US uncertainty about the future as well.
Seems to me that ship (elections in two years) left the dock a couple years ago.
How are we ignoring the fact that elections happened last year?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/04/bash…
Embarrassed European governments barred Syrians living abroad from getting to their embassies to vote while chanting Assad's name.
We have been arming the "moderate" rebels since 2013. Brennan stated that we need to arm and train the moderates and that the program just got started. LOL. A simple google search brings articles from 2013 through 2014 about arming the moderates and there was one that even talked about training and staging bases in Turkey. They just say what ever they want to say. It is propaganda for the masses and has nothing to do with reality.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-secu…
For the past three years our (US) Government has been not only insisting that the President of Syria "is illegitimate and must go", but also encouraging, supporting and arming "rebel forces" (increasingly non-Syrian terrorists officially recognized as such by our own Government) in their efforts to overthrow the Syrian government by force and violence. Now, after the deaths of many thousands of Syrians and the displacement of millions of Syrians, it finally dawns on our "leaders" in Washington (of both political parties) that maybe it was not such a good idea to sponsor all this violence, death and destruction. Oh, well, just another innocent "mistake." Who could possibly have foreseen these results after Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya? After all, things have gone so well in those peaceful, prosperous, stable nations, haven't they? I think the entirety of our political establishment in Washington should be committed to a secure mental health facility, because they are obviously a danger to themselves and others.
Great post and analysis.
Hmmm! I do not know how this rather brusque turnaround is being interpreted by your population, but from a Southamerican perspective, this seems damn surrealistic. I must say, though, that this does seem like the only way around the ISIS mess. Assad´s main sin is that he is an Alawite, a branch of the Shi ´a, who has been demonized like Saddam or Gaddafi. Unlike them, the man has shown far greater solidity. As for the Sunni Arabs, these have proven far too timid to tackle ISIS-the caliphate´s shadow is emasculating any effort they may attempt. And really, compared to the Israelites, Assad is far less murderous and far more determined than its neighbours when it comes to put his troops where they are needed. The US has spent time and money alienating the Syrian regime, arming untrustworthy and shifty ¨rebels¨, who either turn tail when the chips are down or simply desert-with all their US equipment-to al-Qaeda or to ISIS. It should be high time for the Western whatever to ditch the Sunnis and come to terms with reality. It is the Shi´a who are the ones doing the fighting and are the ones who will bring ISIS down. It will annoy Turkey, and put Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the limelight as the terrorist enablers they are. It will also drive the Israelites into a frenzy, as they see Iran (who backs Assad) their bête noir, transformed into a key player in the region. As it once was. All of the Israelite meddling in your Congress is aimed at stopping this from happening; it also means that you will again shed blood of your own to safeguard the existence of shifty and untrustworthy so-called allies. What has the US gotten out of this mess so far? Time to rethink your strategy, time to cleanse your establishment of quislings, foreign agents posing as lobbyists and fellow travelers, and time to withdraw with grace while there still is a chance of it.
I seem to remember someone a few years ago saying something about chickens coming home and something and roosting- I wonder if it's a reflection of how screwed up our foreign policy is when we're backing rebels (who aren't really rebels any longer) who want Assad out, politically fighting the guy we do but don't want out of power (Assad), and at the same time fighting the enemy who does want him out of power (ISIS) but who we don't want to take over when they win.
I seem to remember someone a few years ago saying something about chickens coming home and something about roosting- I wonder if it's a reflection of how screwed up our foreign policy is when we're backing rebels (who aren't really rebels any longer) who want Assad out, politically fighting the guy we do but don't want out of power (Assad), and at the same time fighting the enemy who does want him out of power (ISIS) but who we don't want to take over when they win.
"They want to leave him in power"
I almost fell over my chair just now.
In other words massive billion$$$ WASTED AGAIN while Amerika collapses into a 3rd world dung hole.. The insanity continues from the District of Criminals..
Don't give up hope, Mike, there could still be "boots on the ground" in Syria. After all, there are two parties in this country, (1) the Democratic Party and (2) the Likud Party, which represents the Israeli government, and so far we've only had comment from the Democrats. Don't despair, we can still have war, maybe it will even spread to the Ukraine. I mean you can always count on the Repub… I mean Likud.
Yes Ernst, hope springs eternal,i agree. lol As a retired military person i am just SICKENED to see what my AmeriKa has become. Only Gott knows when this madness will end.
"Exiled opposition factions" means people living in Cyprus and London and DC who have no part in the fighting & have no ability to tell our western-backed jihadists to stop doing anything. These are the completely unarmed & unpopular 'moderate rebels' that DC delusionists imagine they can project into power. This might as well be a report what a 15 yr old blogger in Vancouver thinks.
The Empire's policy goal is "controlled chaos", not "peace and prosperity for all mankind". Once one looks at the actions of Our Dear Leaders from that understanding, they don't look quite so random and irrational.
Our Dear Leaders understand that the Empire will be surpassed by its opponents. They are trying to prevent that by trying to keep opponents weak and divided. The strategy is not a secret – it's well documented in their own words. One just needs to pay attention, just a little.
The US/Israeli policy for countries with a secular Arab identity that have not become servants of the imperial agenda is to partition them along sectarian lines. (Basically, that has been the imperial agenda since at least 1919 ) The sectarian aspect also makes this agenda acceptable to the Ikhwan party in power in Ankara, most of the the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf, perhaps as well as, sadly, Jordan and, in the case of Iraq, the Iranian clerical regime.
The signs that the US may be recognizing that Asad remains strong and popular in western Syria probably means that they are hoping to co-opt him as ruler of a piece of a partitioned future Syria, beside a theocratic Sunni eastern Syrian statelet and a Kurdish one in the NE; as in Iraq, a tripartite division. There are some flies in this ointment, though, To name two; Asad will not agree to preside over a further vivisection of the Arab world, and Turkey will demand control over the Kurdish part, turning it into a sort of Gaza for Kurds.
Finally, about time. Astonishing, how long it takes the geniuses at the USG to realize things.
These people never were the "opposing" of anything that throw at them by the monarks of Sweden to the most dictatorial regime in Saudi arabia. They were paid well, lived in Paris, London and Berlin opposing something delusional as their idea in governing syria, now after 4 years they got it, if they were to become a governess in Syria the caliphat, the saudis barbarians would eat them a life while they the rest hunted like chicken.