Posted on 09/15/2013 10:24:31 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
(CNN) -- A Syrian minister declared "victory" for his country on Sunday, thanking Russia for orchestrating a chemical weapons deal to avert U.S. military action, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.
"We welcome these agreements. On the one hand, they will help Syrians come out of the crisis, and on the other hand, they prevented the war against Syria by having removed a pretext for those who wanted to unleash it," National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar was quoted as saying.
He called the deal an achievement of Russian diplomacy, and "a victory for Syria won thanks to our Russian friends," RIA Novosti reported.
The Syrian regime recently created the "national reconciliation" post to send a message that it wants to end the brutal violence that has led to more than 100,000 deaths, according to U.N. estimates.
The opposition ridiculed the post as mere window dressing. Haidar is not part of President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle and does not speak for the entire regime.
And in Israel, where he met Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that "the threat of force remains" to make sure Syria follows through with the agreement.
"I want people to understand the key elements of what we agreed to in Geneva. It is a framework, not a final agreement," he said. "It is a framework that must be put into effect by the United Nations now."
Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stood side by side Saturday in Geneva, Switzerland, as they set out a series of steps the Syrian government must take to eliminate its chemical weapons. Under the plan, Damascus must submit a comprehensive list of its chemical arsenal within one week, and international inspectors must be on the ground no later than November.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Me thinks it’s a planned deal.
I don’t think I can top your statement. :)
Assad continues breathing, and the Russians get a big military arms deal in a few months when they replace whatever arms Syria destroys — if they ever actually destroy anything to begin with.
in other words, Russia sold them an upgrade.
well good, at least al quaida doesn’t win
We just saved Russia’s embarrassment in providing chem and nukes to Iraq, Syria and Iran, in one fell swoop... And now we are blamed.
Incredible.
Obama's too self-indulged for that. He stumbled badly when he declared Snowden to be a traitor, US citizens do want to know what happened in Benghazi, and this war-mongering did not get his supporters to fall in line. His supporters are mostly disillusioned.
There was no plan here. Russia is now the undisputed babysitter for Syria, while hopefully they get rid of the terrorists the US funded.
WMDs can be moved!!!
The Dhiminicrats have long claimed that WMD's can only be used at point of manufacture.
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