Allowing blankets, bandages and bread into the most blighted and besieged areas of Syria, along with the release of some prisoners, while granting hoards of non-combatants safe passage from the hardest hit locations, was the extent these early negotiations were able to argue about at the Geneva 2 talks.
Still, bearing in mind how few of the numerous rival factions were allowed to participate in the opening discussions, even these modest compromises being bitched over should be considered a milestone. At least the combatants are talking.
Due to domestic and international support, Bashar al-Assad has bee enabled to thwart the Obama administration's strategy to ram the Geneva 1 Communique of 2012 down the Syrian regime's throat.
Geneva Communique
The UN-backed meeting in 2012 issued this document urging Syria to:
- Form transitional governing body
- Start national dialogue
- Review constitution and legal system
- Hold free and fair elections
With Assad viewing the forming of a transitional government as tantamount to signing off on his own death warrant, the Western maligned leader insisted any mention of a transitional government is a red line that will not be crossed. Instead, the Syrian government countered with a "Declaration of Principals" that has no mention of any transitional government. Can you say stalemate? Why this major "sticking point" was ignored until days before the sensitive talks were scheduled to take place is perplexing to say the least.
Given the fact that the Syrian government is winning against a fractured, al qaeda backed adversary, Assad has been able to by the time he needs to holdout for Syria's scheduled June 2014 elections.
Since the United States nor any other Western power won't or even can commit to engaging the Syrians militarily, most independent analyst have correctly predicted the Assad government will win this fight. The American people have absolutely no appetite to spend recklessly in another Middle East conflict and they're not shy about telling the Obama administration that daily.
Additionally, the notion that the United States government could find itself fighting alongside al qaeda in order to rid the region of Assad is a bridge even the 21st century's slickest orator (Barack Obama) won't be able to sell.
The Obama administration, with Western and regional partners will simply have to accept Assad's presence on the world stage until politically achieved conditions permit a peaceful departure for he and his loyal supporters.
Considering the writing has been on the wall regarding the above described outcome for some time now, its a bit of a mystery as to why Western powers doggedly pursued Bashar al-Assad for the bum's rush treatment. One can only fathom, the Obama administration feared Assad might pull off an unlikely win as Hamas did when they were allowed to vote for their own way forward.
Bottom line: Bashar al-Assad's message to Barack Obama; Syria is still mine.
The Podcast:
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