This is not something new, and Nikki Haley is not off on her own.
Discussions have been going on for years. There are good reasons to get rid of Assad (to a retirement palace in Iran, Russia, Switzerland or somewhere).
1. Symbolic. He is the face of the old regime. The people who fought so hard against the regime for so long, will be unlikely to ever accept him staying.
2. De-Ba’athification. The Syrian Ba’ath Party is the last ruling party on Earth, based on the principles of the Nazi Party - socialism based on race rather than class. It should drop that BS. The Ba’ath Party that currently runs Syria is built around the Assad family - Bashar needs to lead the reform, by example. Getting rid of him is necessary to break up the Ba’ath.
3. Rehabilitation. Like the communist parties of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the Syrian Ba’ath have a history of horrible oppression and war crimes - they need to be able to walk away from that history, to play a part in an acceptable future government. That means they need a new a new cover - a re-branding. The country needs their experience and skills, but they need to have a way to stay out of jail, if they are to accept a peace settlement.
4. Somebody gets to pick the next strongman. This is the big plum in shaping the future of Syria. Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia (with their many jihadi front groups), will not leave a future Syria in peace, so a strong security apparatus will be needed, or you are just asking for trouble. Assad will never be our guy.
The plan has long been to re-write the constitution to ease up on some of the fascist/racist BS, grant a bit more democracy and regional autonomy (e.g. for Kurds), and form a new government - after some lengthy stabilization period. It has long been the US position that Assad should not lead that. There are good reasons, but the really important part is who does.
“There are good reasons to get rid of Assad.”
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Team America, World Police. F yeah!
We’re the United States of America: We’ll wage covert CIA/SOF wars wherever and whenever we want to - because we’re the biggest and baddest military the world has ever seen.
We’re the United States of America: We’ll take those wars hot whenever we want to - without Congressional authorization and without debate.
We’re the United States of America: We’ll nation build something that fails miserably again, resulting in another few hundred thousand deaths.
And when the people elect someone who promises no more business as usual, he gives them the finger and becomes the MIC/Deep State inside three months.
An Empire so drunk on its own hubris it fails to see its imminent nemesis.
Wow, a group of Elites decides they don’t like one of those countries that isn’t in debt to the IMF, and Global Bankers.
So, they and their Wahhabist Pals take them out.
Well good luck USA when Karma bites us in the YKW.
Discussions by whom? You mean by the same elites who got us into this mess during the previous 4 presidencies?
What you propose sounds an awful lot like regime change and nation building. I thought we just voted to get rid of that.