Begging Russian President Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop offensive military operations near Aleppo, 70-year-old Secretary of State John Kerry watched his Syria strategy blow up in his face. President Barack Obama and Kerry have strongly backed Saudi Arabia’s “High Negotiation Commission” led by U.S.-educated Saudi Foreign Minster Adel al-Jubeir. Al-Jubeir wants nothing less than Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out of Damascus. Obama and Kerry have backed the six-year-old Saudi funded proxy war seeking to topple al-Assad, something strongly opposed by Putin and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Putin told the U.S. General Assembly Sept. 28, 2015 that toppling al-Assad would lead to more death, destruction and terrorism in the region. Two days later, Putin started aggressive air strikes to prevent Saudi-U.S.-Turkey backed rebel groups from toppling al-Assad.
Syrian troops with Russian air support look poised to wipe out what’s left of Saudi-U.S.-Turkey-backed rebel groups. Kerry asked Putin to show “restraint,” something the Saudis, U.S and Turkey hasn’t done backing various rebel groups over the past six years, causing some 300,000 deaths, displacing 11 million more Syrians to neighboring countries and Europe. Human Rights groups have called the Saudi-funded Syrian proxy war the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII. Refugee challenges from the Syrian War pushed the United Kingdom to vote June 23 to leave the European Union, causing economic havoc in the U.K., Europe and around the globe. Obama’s strong backing of the Saudi proxy war pits the U.S. against Russia, something not seen since the height of the Cold War. Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton promises to continue Obama’s policy.
When Kerry cut a ceasefire deal with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov May 6, 2016, Saudi-U.S.-Turkey backed rebel groups faced annihilation. Three months later Kerry couldn’t persuade the Russians to toss al-Assad under the bus. “It is critical, obviously, that Russia restrain both itself and the Assad regime from conducting offensive operations, just as it is our responsibility to get the opposition to restrain from engaging in those operations,” said Keery, begging Putin to leave Saudi-U.S.-Turkey backed rebel groups intact. Kerry keeps parroting the Saudi position of “political transition,” something strongly opposed by Russia and Iran. To the Saudi-U.S.-Turkey alliance, political transition means getting rid of al-Assad. No matter what the cajoling, Putin rejects the Saudi-U.S.-Turkey transition plan, believing that al-Assad hold the reins of Syria’s sovereign government.
When you think about the preposterous Saudi-U.S.-Turkey logic, Syria, a U.N. recognized member state, should abandon its sovereignty at the behest of illegal rebel groups seeking regime change in Damascus. “The target date was set with the agreement that the parties were going to be able to go to talks [in Geneva] and begin immediate negotiation,” said Kerry, refusing to accept defeat and failure. Syria, Russia and Iran never agreed to the Saudi-U.S.-Turkey-backed transition plan to force al-Assad’s Alawite Shiite regime out of Damascus. “But because of the continued offensive operations of the Assad regime, the opposition found it impossible to sit in Geneva and actually negotiate without a cessation of hostilities,” said Kerry. Kerry knows that al-Assad, Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei have no intent of giving in to Saudi Arabia’s demand to see al-Assad out of Damscus.
Al-Assad’s continued “offensive” operations are nothing more than ridding Syria of any rebel groups trying to topple his government, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] and al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra now known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. Obama and Kerry expect al-Assad, Putin and Ayatollah to join ISIS and al-Qaeda to rid Syria of al-Assad. How Obama arrived at his Syrian policy is anyone’s guess. Al-Assad has no intent of accommodating Saudi demand to leave Damscus. When Kerry talks of negotiations, he’s talking about Saudi Arabia’s outrageous demands to oust a U.N.-member sovereign state from power. With al-Assad, Russia and Iran on the move, Kerry worries again about wiping out Saudi-U.S.-Turkey-backed forces, especially Mohammed Alloush’s Jaish al-Islam. Obama and Kerry have watched their Saudi-backed strategy completely disintegrate.
U.N. Special Syrian Envoy Staffan de Mistura has made no headway in Geneva convincing al-Assad’s government to roll over. Calling for a transitional body completely ignores al-Assad’s right to sovereignty, and, the strong military backing he receives from Moscow and Tehran. Instead of pressuring the Saudis to give up on their failed six-year-old proxy war, the Obama administration, now backed by Hillary, continues to fuel the devastating Saudi-funded proxy war leaving over 300,000 dead and a refugee crisis of historic proportions. Facing backlash all over the EU, the White House doesn’t see the damage wreaked on the EU, already driving out the U.K. Instead of working with Russia to end the Saudi-funded Syrian War, Obama continues to fuel more death, destruction and terrorism in Syria. Only by stopping the Saudi-funded proxy war can end the carnage and refugee crisis.
