The US State Department has prepared an internal “timeline” for regime change in Syria, which envisions Syrian President Bashar Assad staying in power through the end of the Obama Administration, and envisions him and his “inner circle” being removed from office around March of 2017.
The ouster of Assad would then lead to elections for a new parliament and president in August of 2017, with the underlying assumption that neither Assad nor his key allies would be permitted to participate in those elections.
Though officials are trying to downplay the leak of this plan, saying it is “preliminary,” it appears to be a US effort to come up with a plan that mirrors the basic outline of the UN Security Council-endorsed framework for peace in Syria.
Russia was the first to come forward with a plan, and the US version doesn’t appear wildly different, except for the key question of Assad’s fate. Russia’s version would’ve allowed Assad, and indeed anyone in Syria, to run for office in the free elections.
This is the crux of the dispute on Syria between the US and Russia, and has been for years, with Russia arguing that the Syrians should decide who can run for office, and the US insisting that only certain Syrians be permitted to campaign. This ultimately makes the competing plans just a continuation of the age-old dispute.
Wouldn't it be nice if Syria decided who could or couldn't run for president in the US?
Typical American version of democracy. Russia should see to it that proper free democratic elections will be taking place.
Typical American version of "democracy ". Russia should see to it that proper free election will take place. Syrian have suffered too much and fought to hard to let the west decide who should govern them . They wouldn't accept the American version of 'democracy' and back the Russians who have helped them to get free.
The idea of Putin seeing to it that proper free democratic elections are held is amusing. As for helping the Syrians to get free, I'd love to know how little Vlad did that, particularly without anyone seeing him do it. The Assad clan has ruled Syria since 1970. Logically, making Syria free means getting rid of the Assads, not propping them up, as Putin is doing.
You missed the point. Russia should see to it that proper free general election are being held supervised by the United Nations. I bet you that Assad will win. The Assad government is a secular government. Since Syria became independent until the by outsiders staged riots in Homs in 2011' there have never have been any major problems in that country. Syrians enjoyed free education, healthcare and other social benefits. Syria used to be a relatively prosperous and peaceful country in comparison with other countries in the region. Syrians should be given the chance determine their own future free from outside interference.
How many of these "plans" result in a positive outcome that the "plan" anticipated? To even the most challenged it is obvious that the US is not in control of anything except the creation of chaos.
How's the Israeli peace plan going? Seems like the US can't execute a plan with their "greatest ally".
the plan is going just great! israel is expanding, the palestinians are suffering,
syria is in tatters…..no one to return the golan heights (and its oil) to….so
get to keep it, america providing billions in military aid annually. what's not
to love?
Now the US has long been making the claim that Assad has to go because he used Sarin Gas on his own people, however we now know that it was in fact ISIS or Al Nusra that did it (that's the AlNusra that was formerly called Al Qaeda in Iraq and the group that the US is funding training and supplying weapons right up to9 TOW anti tank missile status)
Gone is their argument of a user of weapons of mass destruction, and it may have even been a US funded Al Qaeda related group that did so! The US has no moral right to demand anything here in fact we should look at the problems that the US has caused in their Regime Changing fiasco, noting that if one looks they have a particular penchant for Baathist regimes you know Socialist Arab Nationalists! Iraq Libya Syria Egypt will we continue, never real Sunni kingdoms, although Sadaam was a Sunni, he still ran in the Baathists sphere and still kept many of their ideals and kept the Sunni Wahhibists down!
But I digress slightly, the Whole of the European Refugee disaster, is one hundred per cent caused by the US it funded the Libyan problem getting rid of Gaddaffi by funding Al Nusra and its offshoot ISIS, really not giving a tinkers, who actually did it and not making sure there was an alternative government! We then saw thousands of refugees escaping both Libya itself and using Libya as a conduit to escape from other Sunni insurgent groups to the south! Same in Syria where there is no doubt that the US is funding Al Nusra formally Al Qaeda! There is no doubt that the Syrians are fleeing both Al Nusra and ISIS, both who use the Apostate seven pillars of Islam as their ideology, a Wahhabist ideology from out of Saudi Arabia and are killing and destroying ancient monuments as unislamic, failing to realise or care that those same monuments have been in Islamic lands for over one thousand years! As I said Apostates!
America has used false flag activities and created them with false intelligence to the public, seriously why would Syria used Sarin in Drums and blow it up if they had proper munitions to deliver it! America then used that as an excuse in the UN security council to have sanction placed on Syria, and use the stopping Genocide clause to attack Syrian Soil! Tricky fund the terrorists and then use the terror attacks as an excuse to wage war on the country your terrorists attacked!
Time for the US to start explaining of course it will NEVER HAPPEN, but this time many people have been watching watching what actually happens when country actually targets the terrorists, like the Russians have, lets see hundreds of trucks taking ISIS stolen Oil to Turkish Refineries not touched by US or any other Allied airpower, Putin asks WHY then he orders Russian attacks and suddenly they are attacked by the US as if they didn't know they were there, except they have been doing it for several years, again why aren't the Turkish Authorities doing anything could it be that the Turkish Presidents son owns the refineries!
According to a rabid "Putinite" on another site a few weeks ago, the oil is going to Israel, which would certainly explain why the media, including the internet, are saying so little about its destination. Having forced Putin to capitulate and demonstrated the inferiority of his air force to NATO, Turkey is obviously scaring the daylights out of Putin's supporters!
You are absolutely hundred percent right. You have a good understanding of the situation. I couldn't have said it better.
If Syria's Assad team goes, next USrael victim will be Iran.
Why?
The Assad clan have ruled Syria since 1970, so the chances of Assad or any of his clan winning a free and fair election are fairly slight. Putin cooled to the idea of an election when he realised that Assad wouldn't be able to rig it. Now that Putin has openly committed himself to Assad, it's also hard to see how a free election could take place without the withdrawal of Russian forces, whose presence would be intimidatory. Since I don't see Putin doing that, I would guess that we are still at the "nobody wants a solution" stage. Bogging Putin down until 2017, i.e right through the US presidential cmapaign, is certainly helpful, though.
Wrong. There are no Russian ground forces in Syria, perhaps only in your imagination. Russia at the request of the legitimate sovereign state of Syria is supporting the Syrian army from the air.