Syria in 2016: an exchange on what to do

[mwe12]

The US under Obama and Kerry will at some point if the US continues to do nothing be complicit in those killings if they are not already.

They are not complicit in those killings, though they rather are regarding KSA and company in Yemen and through their support of other extremist groups while importing US weapons and hanging out under a US defense umbrella.

Though two terrorists for each civilian is considerably better than Israel's six civilians per Hezbollah member, even more so when they are bombing people who hide among civilians with 1970s tech.

What does it take for the President and his DoS to stand up and state that if a nation state commits war crimes then the leader of that nation state must be charged with war crimes..

We going to host a dinner for our Mideast kinglets at Bad Saint and then arrest them all?

UN SecGen has clearly stated today the use of starvation is a war crime and if the US which claims to follow the Law of Land Warfare carefully rereads it...the deliberate targeting of civilians by a military is also a war crime......

Cuts both ways.

Reference Assad cyber attacks.....currently a high number of ongoing Syrian cyber attacks originating in Damascus and targeting the KSA....has been occurring in waves all day. Have seen the same tactic being used out of Iraq focusing on the KSA and that has been steady all day.

And poor victimized KSA exports money for terrorists and radicals the world around...

Although the subtle question is ...does the WH actually agree with the killing of civilians and believe the attacks on FSA are OK.....in the their striving for a "legacy"......

America has no stomach for a war over these guys and the government has been unable to hide the stink of the anti-Assad forces. His base has increasingly moved towards staying out foreign conflicts and the other side, which he can't lead to water, has a mix of "let them kill each other", "kill them all let God sort them out", "Obama is a wimp", and a some unrepentant neocons.

It be good for the WH to look like they are doing something as it will be harder and harder to restrain Turkey and KSA both who view themselves "as defenders of the faith and Sunni global community" and Arabs when they perceive Iran is out to destroy Sunni's and Arabs.

Through support of IF, JAN and ISIS....

e are slowly getting to that point of no return OR they release the MANPADs and argue the need to defend defenseless civilians from Assad and Russian AFs.....we are almost at that point.

Thankfully I hope the US has learned from Afghanistan and has put enough pressure on them to not send MANPADS to terrorists...

NOW after that surreal drone footage this is the utter reality of a deliberate Russian air strike on civilians which might require Kerry to do more than simply "ask".....and Kerry wonders why the HNC makes "pre conditions" that he himself via the UNSC has already agreed to BUT cannot fulfill......come on it is not rocket science...just humanity...

They are basically demanding Assad/Putin surrender before they will talk.

Maybe this can help the Obama WH and Kerry fully understand the effects of Russian air strikes and just why the rebel HNC Geneva team demands they stop...this town had roughly 24K before the Russian groups attacked with Spetsnaz and Shia militia, Iraqi Shia militia, IRGC and Hezbollah....and over 800 Russian air strikes and that included carpet bombings with the Tu-122.

It's a war and Russia did not kill 24k people in that town, they fled from a civil war. Talk about a flawed taking point.

An interesting game is afoot it appears...so now if the US announces they are ceasing air strikes against all except IS/and maybe JaN and the Russians do not follow suit and continue to bomb FSA a party in the talks...IS in fact then Russia responsible for the failure of any further talks..at least until they stop bombing everyone except IS??

So would the FSA/IF stop shooting at the SAA? I think not. Russia is totally within its rights and acting above board in bombing the IF/FSA.

Maybe when it comes to Syria Kerry should be replaced with the former Ambassador to Syria...at least he calls a spade a spade.......

Thanks but no. We sure don't need another idiot calling for the use of force or giving aid to terrorists. Good to let him whine from the sidelines in some useless "think tank."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mi...-idUSKCN0V61M4
Before agreeing to talks, the HNC had been seeking U.N. guarantees of steps including a halt to attacks on civilian areas, a release of detainees, and a lifting of blockades. The measures were mentioned in a Security Council resolution approved last month that endorsed the peace process for Syria.

Sabra said a response from de Mistura was "unfortunately still ink on paper". "We are not certain that the opportunity is historic," he told Arabic news channel Arabiya al-Hadath.

Riad Hijab, who heads the Syrian opposition council, told Arabiya TV members might be in the city of Geneva, but would not attend the talks. He demanded immediate steps to alleviate the plight of Syrians under siege and bombardment.

...
The exclusion of a powerful Kurdish faction that controls wide areas of northern Syria has triggered a boycott by some of the invitees. Turkey had opposed the PYD's participation on the ground it views it as a terrorist group.

The United States, whose Secretary of State John Kerry is among those pushing for negotiations to start on Friday, urged the opposition to seize the "historic opportunity" and enter talks without preconditions to end the war, which has also displaced more than 11 million people.

.....
The HNC groups political and armed groups fighting Assad. It includes some of the main armed groups fighting in western Syria, including the Islamist Jaysh al-Islam, which is deemed a terrorist group by Russia, and Free Syrian Army factions that have received military support from states including the Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Earlier this week the Syrian army took a strategic town in the southern province of Deraa, securing its supply routes from the capital to the south, days after retaking more territory in Latakia province.

Damascus, Tehran and Moscow have objected to the inclusion of groups they consider terrorists in any peace talks.

Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Thursday his country strongly opposed moves by Saudi Arabia to allow "terrorists in a new mask" to sit down for talks.