Russian Federation has confirmed it has “experts” on the ground, but has refused to give further details about its military presence in Syria.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that Russia’s movement of tactical aircraft and surface-to-air missiles to Syria could pose a threat to American and allied forces, and made clear that the US could accept a resolution to the civil war that allows President Bashar Assad to remain in power for an unspecified time.
He added, “After all, we are fighting the same enemy”.
Moscow has been a key supporter of the Assad regime on the worldwide stage and recently escalated its military support for the Syrian government.
“The secretary stressed that there is no military solution to the overall conflict in Syria, which can only be resolved by a political transition away from Assad”.
He also reiterated that it is up to the Syrian people to choose their leadership and not “because of the judgment of the United States, the U.N. Security Council, the Geneva Conference or the Geneva Communique”. Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Central Command leading the war on the Islamic State, told Congress Wednesday that only “four or five” opposition fighters exist after nearly a year of effort.
“As for other countries, we have no veto on any country provided that it has the will to fight terrorism and not as they are doing in what is called “the global coalition” led by the United States“, he said.
But the Whitehouse spokesman DID say Obama would attempt to do so…but only when he is determined that it would advance the interests of the US.
Meanwhile, a suicide vehicle bomber struck in a predominantly Kurdish city in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, killing seven people, a day after twin auto bombings in the same city killed at least 32, including 19 civilians.
But if such a meeting is held, here’s hoping US generals do not embarrass themselves by asking their Russian counterparts stupid questions about an imagined difference between bolstering Assad and harming the Islamic State. Two Syria-based groups as well as the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes carried out at least 12 air strikes across the city on Thursday. “Without Russia’s support for Syria, the situation in the country would have been worse than in Libya, and the flow of refugees would have been even bigger”.
But Lewis, who is billed as an arms-control specialist at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, then admitted that he doesn’t have a clue what to do, which at least is an improvement over all the other “experts” who say the USA must do something – anything! – to counter Russian intervention.
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The government has lost large swathes of territory to rebels and jihadists such as the Islamic State group.
