United States Secretary of State John Kerry delivers a statement on the situation in Aleppo, Syria at the State Department in Washington U.S., December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Reuters: U.S. plays down absence from Moscow talks on Syria, says not 'sidelined'
The United States on Tuesday sought to downplay its absence from talks on the Syrian conflict among Russia, Iran and Turkey in Moscow, saying it was not a "snub" and did not reflect a decline of U.S. influence in the Middle East.
However, President Barack Obama's decision to offer only limited support to moderate rebels has left Washington with little leverage to influence the situation in Syria, especially after Moscow began launching air strikes against rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
Although Washington has long been a player in efforts to end the Syria civil war and other Mideast conflicts, the United States was forced to watch from the sidelines as the Syrian government and its allies, including Russia, mounted an assault to pin down the rebels in east Aleppo that culminated in a ceasefire deal.
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WNU Editor: This is what a lame-duck administration looks like. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is only keeping U.S. United States Secretary of State John Kerry in the loop more out of courtesy than anything else. Everyone knows that John Kerry and the Obama administration are gone in a month .... and all eyes are now on President-elect Trump and his team.
7 comments:
" in the loop more out of courtesy than anything else."
For Kerry, perhaps the most unkind cut of all.
John Kerry was a Senator. Then he was a presidential candidate, went back to being Senator, as I recall, and now he is Secretary of State. Enough of this buffoon already!! Can we be done with him please?!!?
Mistake number one here was opposing Assad. Perhaps Assad was not/is not an optimal solution. He may not even be a good solution. Regardless he was not/is not going to go anywhere. The Russians were not/are not ever going to allow it. The first step to accomplishing our goals is to realistic ones and formulate strategies based upon what is achievable.
To have opposed Assad while he had Russian backing is a bit like a person who chooses to be their entire retirement on winning the lottery. Except in this case worse. At least with the lottery, if one wins, they know the results will be good. In this case, the problem is the odds. As such, prudent people do not stake their futures on such things. Assuming somehow incredible odds comparable to winning the lottery were beaten and Assad somehow gets removed over Russian objectives we don't even know how well the replacement would have worked out for us!!
The best options would have been 1.)simply stay out of it as the US has no interests there or 2.)try and find a way to assist Russia in order to add value to them thereby securing their friendship and perhaps that of their allies as well. POTUS elect Trump appears to recognize the Russia is fighting ISIS in Syria. Perhaps we can now look forward to a period of cooperation with the Russians or at the very least getting out of their way.
Additionally a good thing for US military officials would be to study the Russian operations. Try and learn from them. In order to be the best, it helps to study the best.
Every time I see Kerry, I hear calliope music.
Anon,
"Every time I see Kerry, I hear calliope music." You're being very kind.
Anon,
I should clarify. I loathe this thing that is called Secretary of State. It is beneath contempt or even being considered part of the human race.
The US isn't being excluded for "lame duckism",
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/12/how-the-military-excluded-the-us-from-international-syria-negotiations.html#comments
It's being excluded for "pro-jihadism".
"Russia kicked the U.S. out of any further talks about Syria after the U.S. blew a deal which, after long delaying negotiations, Kerry had made with the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov."
"You just can't listen to John Kerry and get things done."
- Barack Insane Obama
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