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Syria Barred From Talks On Resolving Endless War |
By
Stephen Lendman |
| On November 14, around 20 nations will meet in Vienna for more talks
on resolving the long-running Syrian conflict - launched by Obama, intending
to continue it until Assad is replaced by a US-controlled puppet. Late October talks accomplished nothing. Participants agreed to disagree. Expect nothing more significant this time. Syria wasn’t invited to either session, left out of discussing its own status and future. How can peace be achieved without its involvement? UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura ignored the affront, saying “(m)y job is to make sure that large countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran sit around the table and set out a political plan.” It’s worthless without Syrian involvement, showing no US intent to resolve things responsibly. On Wednesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, suggested Tehran won’t participate in Saturday talks. Iranian Tasnim News Agency then quoted him saying “Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will definitely not attend the next round of Vienna talks on Syria.” Washington must provide “answers regarding some unilateral actions taken by some of the (participating) sides,” Abdollahian stressed - acting “without consulting others,” the way US officials most often do things. Iran opting out and excluding Syria suggests continued deadlock on resolving things. Obama didn’t wage war on Syria to quit. Washington abhors peace and stability. Endless wars defines its agenda, raping one country after another. Afghanistan is America’s longest war. No end in sight looms. Syrian fighting could continue for years. Washington just unilaterally rejected Russia’s sensible, fair peace proposal without consideration or discussion. Iraq and Libya remain cauldrons of violence and chaos. US-orchestrated war on Yemen is raping another country. Is Iran next? Successful nuclear talks didn’t change Washington’s longstanding regime change objective - just sidelined it temporarily. Russia’s intervention in Syria with perhaps Iraq to follow reflects a major wildcard, challenging America’s hegemonic agenda effectively for the first time in memory, not likely to let up until Putin achieves what he set out to accomplish - neutralizing the terrorist threat, ideally eliminating it, preventing its spread to Central Asia and Russia, as well as preserving Syrian sovereignty. Washington can’t stop him, yet remains determined to try - again proving its hostile intentions. It’s no Russian partner for peace or most anything else. The German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) expects things to worsen because Washington and Saudi Arabia intend increasing aid to Syrian opposition forces (aka ISIS and other terrorists) - directly challenging Moscow’s anti-ISIS campaign. Reuters reported Rihadh “in a state of madness, escalating to the greatest degree,” citing an unnamed source close to Syria’s army. On the one hand, Washington, Rihadh and rogue allies can’t effectively challenge Putin’s righteous mission. On the other, they can create endless violence, instability and chaos, making conflict resolution impossible. On November 11, The Washington Post said Obama “will soon be forced to confront big decisions on Syria…Kerry will try to build momentum for a Syrian political transition” - wanting it externally controlled, putting him at odds with Russia, supporting Syrians’ exclusive right to decide who’ll lead them, no one else, especially not Washington, wanting hegemony over the entire Middle East, what Moscow is righteously contesting. Later on Thursday (as this is written), Kerry will deliver an address on Syria at the hawkish, right-wing, misnamed United States Institute of Peace. Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter are board members. Deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said “it’s an opportunity for him to lay out the efforts that we’re pursuing in Syria” - talking peace, waging endless proxy war of aggression, claiming Washington wants ISIS defeated while using its forces as US proxy foot soldiers. Russia and America are miles apart on resolving Syria’s conflict. Putin wants peace and stability. Obama wants endless war, pretending otherwise. Both sides disagree on what groups are terrorist ones. America maintains the pretense about so-called “moderate” rebels. None exist. Russia won’t agree to any proposal limiting its war on terrorism, targeting ISIS, Al Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra and various splinter groups. All Assad opposition fighting elements are terrorists. Washington distinguishing between good and bad ones is farcical on its face, fooling no one. Following talks in Vienna, G-20 leaders will meet in Antalya, Turkey on November 15 and 16. Putin and Obama will attend. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “(t)he schedule of bilateral meetings has not been finalized yet. It is now being drafted in cooperation with other countries. Talk of (Putin and Obama meeting) is premature.” Each leader will hold a number of bilateral meetings. On September 28, they met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly for 90 minutes, perhaps to be continued in Turkey. Their agendas remain polar opposite. War and peace don’t mix. Resolving Syria’s conflict remains nowhere in sight, not as long as Washington blocks responsible efforts to achieve it. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. |
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