As diplomats return to Vienna for another round of Syria talks on Saturday, they’re grappling with questions that have scuttled all previous attempts to forge a ceasefire and usher in a political transition.
Advertisement
The two battles, he said, are interrelated, and US diplomatic and military actions in Syria are “mutually reinforcing”. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the attacks in Paris made it all the more necessary for the worldwide community to find a common approach in Syria and terrorism, sentiments echoed by the foreign ministers of Germany, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
While USA leaders have long stated that Assad can not be allowed to remain in power, Kerry and other US officials have softened their tone on the matter in recent weeks – suggesting instead that Assad has no place in Syria’s “long-term future” but leaving the door open for him to stay around during a longer transition period. But he says the diplomatic effort to end the war can not be abandoned.
Assad’s army is now backed by Iran’s hardline Quds Force and its proxy, Hezbollah, along with Russian Federation.
Well, we don’t have that tape but – they – Secretary Kerry said that – referred to it as a vile, horrendous, outrageous, unacceptable acts.
In comments aimed at those who say the USA has done too little, Kerry touted the progress of the U.S.-led coalition in bombing ISIS targets over the last 14 months – pointing to the ouster of ISIS from the Syrian border town of Kobani and the Iraqi city of Tikrit, the killing of top ISIS leaders and the humanitarian mission that helped save members of the Yadizi minority under threat from ISIS last summer. “I think we have to strongly reiterate that there should be no tolerance vis a vis terrorists… there could be no justification for us not doing much more to defeat ISIL, al Nusra and the like”.
He said the meeting had taken place in the shadow of the deadly attacks in Paris Friday night, which had “increased the determination to move forward”.
But ISIS won’t be defeated, Kerry said, until disparate parties can stop fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad and unite against ISIS. “There is increasing evidence in both Iraq and Syria that (Islamic State) can be defeated, even routed, when faced by the combination of coalition air strikes and effective partners on the ground”.
Foreign ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others in the Middle East and Europe are here for a second round of meetings on Syria. The conflict has allowed Islamic State militants to carve out significant parts of Syria and Iraq for their would-be caliphate and commit atrocities, particularly against women and minorities, that a few human rights groups consider genocide.
Advertisement
More than 250,000 people have been killed in the Syrian war. Eleven million have been uprooted from their homes.
