Russian Intervention in Syrian War Has Sharply Reduced U.S. Options
Russian Intervention in Syrian War Has Sharply Reduced U.S. Options by David E. Sanger, New York Times
For months now the United States has insisted there is no military solution to the Syrian civil war, only a political accord between President Bashar al-Assad and the fractured, divided opposition groups that have been trying to topple him.
But after days of intense bombing that could soon put the critical city of Aleppo back into the hands of Mr. Assad’s forces, the Russians may be proving the United States wrong. There may be a military solution, one senior American official conceded Wednesday, “just not our solution,” but that of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
That is what Secretary of State John Kerry faces as he enters a critical negotiation over a cease-fire and the creation of a “humanitarian corridor” to relieve starving Syrians besieged in more than a dozen cities, most by Mr. Assad’s forces. The Russian military action has changed the shape of a conflict that had effectively been stalemated for years. Suddenly, Mr. Assad and his allies have momentum, and the United States-backed rebels are on the run. If a cease-fire is negotiated here, it will probably come at a moment when Mr. Assad holds more territory, and more sway, than since the outbreak of the uprisings in 2011…
As someone who has since the Crimea been extremely critical of Obama, Kerry and the entire NSC….I will repeat it again…this is the weakest absolutely the weakest President, DoS Sec and NSC in literally 70 years.
They are clinging to the idea that soft power will be the potential way forward for the US in the 21st century and THEY and their soft power beliefs have run smack into an individual who is determined to force his way to the top again.
This article is just another one in a long series of recent articles defending this administration AND their evidently lack of anything they can do stories.
Obama and Kerry talk and talk and talk and when their so called allies ie the Syrian opposition and Ukraine bulk because the US is pressuring them to commit unilateral appeasement moves without a single reciprocal move THEN they apply direct pressure ie blackmail and then when caught out state “we were misunderstood”…..the problem is they were fully understood.
This article is extremely interesting as the US has right now five options that they could in effect make that shows their determination to truly achieve a ceasefire.
BUT there can be no diplomacy unless the other side fully understands you are ready to use force much as Putin is doing.
Herein lies the core problem for Obama and Kerry…they are fighting for a legacy that states….I did 8 years and did not get us into a war….
Obama and Kerry have together created in the eyes of Putin the image that they are afraid and will not use force regardless of how many times the US FP is shown to be a dismal failure.
Here in SWJ there have been a serious discussion of non linear warfare and the WH…absolutely nothing……
This article is nothing more nothing less that another series of CYA excuses…sad..sad.
Will remind everyone of Obama’s exact words in reference to the Donbas…..
“we will judge Putin by his actions not by his words……”
So what has the WH/Kerry responses been……they have actually when one closely looks at their moves…actually adopted the Putin doctrine and are comfortable with that decision…pity the next President….
There is no military solution that serves the interests of the US, because the US has no clear interests in place and no realistic, achievable goal to pursue. The Russians do have a clear interest and a clear goal, which makes the use of force a viable option for them. Just because it’s a viable option for them doesn’t mean it’s a viable option for us, and there is no logic in trying to match their moves.
There is not and never was any outcome to this that serves US interests. Assad stays, we get a Russian-allied dictator who hates our guts. Assad falls, we get a power vacuum with the Iranians and the Saudis duking it out in a long-term proxy war. The idea that there was some moderate force that could roll out a nice shiny pro-western democracy if only they had US support is just a re-run of a long-standing American fantasy that brings nothing but trouble.
One of the great mysteries of this mess is the persistent notion that the US must be involved in every fight on the planet, and the strange delusion that reluctance to commit to a quagmire where we have no dog in the hunt, no natural ally, no national interest worth pursuing, and no realistic goal constitutes “lack of leadership”. Lack of stupidity, maybe.
Appears that the US does not quite understand who they are actually supporting in Syria right now…..how can they get it so wrong and especially when supposedly the CIA is working with the YPG/SDF and when a 20 SUV US convoy was just in northern Syria at the main YPG/SDF location……
Hezbollah media post exclusive pics taken inside Menage airbase taken by YPG indicate the two militias coordinating.
pic.twitter.com/c9KjKLPhzS
So again just how much of the so called Russian Syria FP is actually the US FP for Syria…??