US & Syria - What drives Kerry?

[Aberlour10]

Who thought 3 weeks ago Kerry would ever say something like this?

 

We’re very pleased with the pace of what has happened with respect to chemical

weapons in a record amount of time,” Kerry said

 

The things change fast these days in Syria. About 50.000 rebels do not recognize the exil goverment anymore and fight in the new formed Army of Islam under the black flag of Jihad. I think it will be harder and harder for the politicans to explain the western public opinion why this forces should be armed, financed and otherwise supported with their tax money.

[ArtK78]

Who thought 3 weeks ago Kerry would ever say something like this?

 

 

 

The things change fast these days in Syria. About 50.000 rebels do not recognize the exile government anymore and fight in the new formed Army of Islam under the black flag of Jihad. I think it will be harder and harder impossible for the politicians to explain the western public opinion why this forces should be armed, financed and otherwise supported with their tax money.

 

FYP

[PassedOut]

Followup: Syria Is Said to Destroy All Chemical Arms Production Sites

 

LONDON — The international chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday that Syria had met a key deadline for “the functional destruction” of all the chemical weapons production and mixing facilities declared to inspectors, “rendering them inoperable” under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States.

 

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague said in a statement that a joint team of its inspectors and United Nations officials had visited 21 of the 23 chemical sites Syria declared to them. While the remaining two sites were too hazardous to visit because of the country’s continuing civil war, the chemical-making equipment there had already been moved to other sites which the inspectors could visit.

So far, so good.

[kenberg]

Definitely this is progress, more progress than I expected. That's the good news and I am glad of it. I guess I see it as one bit of good news in a very disastrous overall setting. Michael Gerson said something along the lines of "Assad, through trial and error, is finding ways to kill women and children that the world finds more acceptable". To his credit, Gerson does not really hold Obama responsible for this, although I think we can all regret the dithering and the mixed messages.

 

I never had all that much hope for the "Arab Spring". It reminded me too much of GWB's insistence before going into Iraq that we could establish a functioning democracy there. Maybe next year. Now in Syria we have deliberate starvation, immense brutality, and firing on humanitarian aid workers. They are fired at from various quarters, depending on who they are trying to aid.

 

What should we do? I don't know. But I still remember in, I think, 1956 when we encouraged the people of Hungary to believe we would help them if they took up resistance to Soviet domination of their country. The people did, and we watched the slaughter. If we do not intend to help, we should at least shut up.

 

Added: I wrote the above before reading the Ignatius column this morning: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-pitfalls-of-a-realist-middle-east-strategy/2013/10/30/7601fe4e-40e3-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html

 

But let’s be honest: This is basically a formula for stalemate in Syria, with continuing carnage and al-Qaeda growth there. Though it sounds like a low-risk strategy, the administration’s disengaged approach is actually quite dangerous.

 

 

Anyway, if there is someone who knows what is best here, it isn't me.