Posted on 09/13/2015 7:54:14 AM PDT by Rusty0604
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany and other western European powers need to work with Russia as well as the United States to solve the crisis in Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.
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Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with his Russian, French and Ukrainian counterparts in Berlin on Saturday evening and said afterwards he saw growing support for creating an international contact group to solve the Syrian conflict.
Earlier, a delegation source said Steinmeier and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a lengthy exchange about Syria on the sidelines of the meeting, with both agreeing to support the U.N. Syrian envoy, Staffan de Mistura's plan to create a Syrian contact group.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Assad is actually better than the other side.
Everything is relative.
Assad let Christians, Chaldeans, Christian Armenians live in Syria.
He did not cut off their heads, destroy Christian historical sites, Jewish historical sites, or ancient historical sites.
I t was actually his opponents who used poison gas.
Agreed. Bit of hyperbole but Putin from the beginning understood the harm to Western Culture from the jihadists and an Islamic culture that is crumbling into chaos and violence as it is unable to cope with modernity. Soon the West will experience the consequences of their politically correct rants as the destitute but still fervent Muslims ferment further in the lands formerly known as Christendom. Yet you are right that at some level Putin is frightened since his long time enemies ( which has never really been NATO) continue to strengthen. Perhaps that is why he finally realized that a debilitating fight with his cultural cousins the Ukrainians was foolish and he is now directing his efforts to prevent nearby Syria from becoming a jihadist state and a haven for terrorists.
The growth and invasions of ISIS belongs to Obama hook, line and sinker.
There were no good guys in Libya either...but Khadafi kept the muslims under control. Then Obama had to be some kind of savior again....and we assassinated Khadafi...which is not allowed under international law.
Russia is a historic ally of Syria. They have strategic interests there (ports and airfields). It is foolish to think that they would not support Assad.
Well, that is the problem. There are no good guys in Muslim countries. I don’t get the animosity towards Assad, though. He may be the only civilized, sane leader left. If Obama is so intent on removing him from power, it must be to further foment radical Islamic jihad. I say Assad is a good guy compared to the rest of them.
I also don’t get why we are pimping with Russia. The Ukraine is Europe’s problem and it’s about time they started dealing with their own conflicts. NATO should be disbanded. If Europe wants to go full-commie or full-Muslim, that is their problem.
There are only bad guys, and even worse guys.
But I have to say this illustrate the brilliance of the Russian decision to overtly support Assad and stabilize Syria.
As the refugees begin to return to Syria, Putin will be a hero in Europe and will have shown himself, not the USA, as the protector of the Middle East AND Europe.
One of the most brilliant political coups I've ever seen, or even read about.
Putin knows what he is doing and he shames the US Leadership.
Oddly, whomever ISIS is fighting against, we are too.
The only entities that can stop ISIS, we are busy destroying them.
Assad is a dictator, but according to some Christians living there, he at least protected them. Look at the other ME countries that got a taste of democracy (mob rule) and what happened to the Christians. Muslims don’t do well under democracy.
Exactly! The only ones who keep some level of peace and rational governance in Muslim countries are dictators.
You mention Ukraine. It seems where-ever the US has gotten involved...Libya, Egypt, Ukraine, Syria etc it has been a disaster for nearby countries.
I think we should have left Libya as it was and at this point I think Saddam wasn’t as bad as what is now going on. I’m on the leave Assad alone side - at least the dictators kept a lid on the insanity. Now it’s invading Europe.
We’ll have hell to pay.
Ok, let me get this straight. Germany now is depending on the cooperation or Russia to fend off the invasion of the Islamists? Now what possibly could go wrong with this scenario?
Northern Europe is going to have a problem with those darn neo-Nazis getting frisky if thousands of fighting-age mideastern men move in.
Angela digs her hole deeper.
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