Posted on 10/05/2016 2:31:08 PM PDT by Peter ODonnell
Some say there is a bit of daylight between Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence on Syria and relations with Russia.
I would not be surprised, these are complex issues and getting these two files right will be a big (and urgent) challenge for the next president.
Hoping that is Donald Trump, I was wondering what you thought would be America's best policy from 2017 onward with regard to the conflict in Syria and relations with Putin's Russia. These are of course inter-related.
My proposal would be this:
(1) Seek to create the best possible relationships between the U.S. (and NATO allies) with Putin's Russia. We face similar challenges and a global enemy (militant Islam). We would waste a lot of energy rattling sabers at each other, and it's unnecessarily dangerous.
(2) Hammer out an agreement with Russia on how to proceed in Syria. I believe we are stuck with the Assad government for the next five or ten years. It was never quite as bad as portrayed but in any case was (before the civil war) a more stable alternative than many others, not overly hostile to Israel, and by regional standards very tolerant of religious minorities.
America and NATO have been on the wrong path for the past eight years in trying to fan flames of popular revolt through the Middle East. This led to the overthrow of non-hostile governments that, while repressive by our standards, have turned out to be far better than what replaced them. Egypt had to do a reset back to the pre-Arab-spring situation and it has saved them from a death spiral.
I believe it is fairly obvious that the U.S. allowed the rise and spread of ISIS as part of their strategy to have Assad defeated. They probably figured that ISIS between Syria and Iraq/Iran would lessen support for Assad and give other fighting factions an ally or at least a drain on possible opposing government forces.
This was a catastrophic blunder. When hawks in Washington (some of whom seem to think Mike Pence is their guy now) talk about pushing to remove Assad and threatening Russia if they get in the way, that is absolutely the wrong policy. I suspect this may be driven in part by interests in Jerusalem. In this case, I think Israel needs to be careful what games it plays in the region, and accept that Assad, while far from ideal, is a much less risky neighbour than many who might replace him.
And to be frank, the Libyan experience tells us that trying to engineer a friendly new government in a power vacuum full of armed militants of every stripe is just a dangerous fantasy. Inevitably, the bad guys, the hard men, will win out unless there is massive support for the original hard man, Assad.
Sometimes nations have to admit errors. Putin may have his flaws and Russia is hardly a model of civil liberties and prosperity, but there again, what's the alternative? A more xenophobic nationalism? A return to Soviet communism full-bore? Weak ineffectual liberal democrats? We are better off dealing with Putin, a realist and a guy who basically shares the values of western civilization in any showdown with Islam (or also, I would suspect, China down the road).
So on points I give any debate internally to Trump, despite his lack of political experience, he is on the right page in his assessments and I hope to see good relations developing with Putin and Russia in 2017-18. And therefore I think we might as well accept that the only sane option in Syria is to put up with Assad, and stop supporting opponents of his regime. We can still put pressure on Assad (through Putin) to respect civilian safety and human rights. We have to be realistic about what to expect. But how was the past any worse than the present? It was better.
Have fun with your tar baby, Vlad. See ya!
There have been Freepers who whine about this move destroying the Republican party. That's a damned fool assertion. It would destroy both parties.
That would be a good thing, and might be the best thing long term if we are to save the Republic.
Safe camps instead of zones. No fly zones
The Russians have been fighting ISIS and al-Queda, and the US has been fighting alongside ISIS and al-Queda.
For instance: the White House recently deployed warplanes to bomb and strafe Syrian army targets in advance of the ISIS attack on Deir Ezzor.
That alone ought to be enough evidence that things are not as you have been told.
Russia have intervened in Syria - to fight ISIS and al-Queda - by express invitation of its Government. The only reason that civilians are in danger in East Aleppo is because the al-queda armoured infantry divisions trapped there are using them as human shields.
In contrast this White House has been arming ISIS and al-Queda, has been bombing Syrian infrastructure to destabilize the country, and has now started openly attacking Syrian Government positions in the South West.
The White House are the barbarians here. Just like Kosovo. Just like Kiev.
January can’t come soon enough.
Not that our negotiations on this thread mean anything :0)
But on the no-fly zones - no Brother, no. It’s Syrian airspace and Syrian territory. If they want to blow the living crap out of ISIS from the air, why wouldn’t we let them do exactly that?
We simply have no right to stick our oar in. We (or rather, the White House) caused all this warfare, death and destruction in the first place.
And furthermore - if we try - it will mean a shooting war with Russia.
Dang, getting tired here. I meant to write “Syrian Government positions in the South East of Syria”, not “South West”.
Good night all (going to bed!).
Hmmmm ..?? Do we want to tell the Canadian’s our plans about Syria/Assad, etc.
People are aware, aren’t they .. the Canadian’s have a uber-liberal for head of their country.
I think we should keep this to ourselves.
Camps should be along jordanian border since we can have Jordanians be the enforcers. I think they will do it, and that putin will agree. NFZ would also be easier.
Don’t worry, as a conservative blogger I am not exactly in the Trudeau inner sanctum, nor would I stay there if I woke up and found that’s where I was.
Pull out of Syria, Ignore Russia, Flood the world with oil and watch Russia implode
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