Neither Saudi Arabia nor Syria and its backers want real negotiations that could end Syria’s five-year old, brutal civil war until the lay of the battlefield definitively enhances their respective negotiating position.
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Hopes were buoyed here in Munich after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced an agreement that would, in theory, lead to a pause of sieges to allow humanitarian aid delivery, and an eventually de-escalation of hostilities.
Government forces concentrated in Damascus and the centre and west of Syria are fighting the jihadists of Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, as well as less numerous so-called “moderate” rebel groups, who are strongest in the north and east. These groups are also battling each other.
Reuters reports that State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the president is “deluded if he thinks that there is a military solution to the conflict in Syria”.
KELEMEN: That may have been the case, but one Syrian opposition figure, Salem al-Muslet, says he doesn’t care what it’s called.
The Saudi offer of ground troops exploits an increasingly untenable situation.
Instead, he urged Europe’s governments “which have been a direct cause for the emigration of these people, by giving cover to terrorists in the beginning and through sanctions imposed on Syria, to help in making the Syrians return to their country”.
“If the Assad regime does not live up to its responsibilities and if the Iranians and the Russians do not hold Assad to the promises that they have made…then the global community obviously is not going to sit there like fools and watch this”.
Assad supporter Iran said it would work with rival Saudi Arabia to fight ISIS in Syria.
Kerry also said that Russian Federation would have to change tactics if an agreement Friday for a temporary truce in Syria is to actually take effect in a week.
Moscow has always said that those two jihadist groups are the only targets of its air campaign.
“It is excellent additional fire power for us”, said one of the commanders, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Since the war began in 2011, more than 250,000 residents have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to United Nations figures. Assad warned Syria would “confront” invading armies.
“We are saying we will participate within the U.S.-led coalition, should this coalition decide to send ground troops into Syria, that we are prepared to send special forces with those troops”. The task force will include members of the military along with representatives from countries that are supporting various armed groups in Syria. He said Saturday “the picture is more grim; the developments since 2007 have been worse than anticipated”. More than 1 million Syrians are estimated to be in towns and districts that have been blockaded for weeks and sometimes months either by government forces or the rebels. What do the agreements mean for Russian and US bombing campaigns? And while he said “innocent people die in the war”, he denied any state policy of targeting civilians.
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To sidestep the Saudi challenge and prevent a unsafe escalation of the Syrian war, the Obama administration will have to come up with proposals that justify delaying Saudi intervention, but go beyond air strikes against IS and futile efforts to breathe new life into peace talks.
