Fruitless Syrian Peace Process
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Years of Geneva and Astana talks (along with one Sochi round) achieved no breakthroughs - nothing toward resolving years of US-launched aggression in Syria, conflict in its eighth year, nothing in prospect for ending it.
Deescalation zones failed. Washington, its rogue allies, and terrorist foot soldiers don’t recognize them.
Diplomacy can’t work when one belligerent wants endless war, not resolution. Washington launched naked aggression in Syria for regime change.
Its objective remains unchanged, making diplomacy futile - notably with US forces occupying around one-third of the country, according to Syrian UN envoy Bashar al-Jaafari.
Washington came to Syria to stay, aiming to control as much of the country as possible, likely wanting it partitioned, its resources looted, its people exploited.
If US soldiers are withdrawn, special forces will remain. Trump’s withdrawal scheme is to have Saudi, UAE and Qatari troops replace Pentagon soldiers on the ground, functioning as US proxies together with terrorist foot soldiers - supported by US airpower.
Week ago US, UK and French aggression on targeted Syrian sites virtually assures more of the same ahead.
On the phony pretext of destroying (nonexistent) Syrian CW facilities, military sites were the main targets. The mission failed because government air defenses destroyed most incoming missiles.
Failure virtually assures further US-led aggression to try accomplishing what wasn’t achieved on April 14.
Sergey Lavrov has worked tirelessly for conflict resolution without success. On Thursday, he urged a greater UN presence in the country, saying:
“Generally speaking the question of building up UN presence in Syria deserves attention from various points of view including the collection of authentic information.”
“We cannot tolerate a situation where UN agencies in their reports and public statements rely on information borrowed from other sources in Syria, not the UN’s own ones.”
Admitting the deplorable state of things in the country, he stressed “(t)he main thing is to stay within the framework of international law, and we will be seeking that all our partners (sic) should follow precisely this course rather than try to play their geopolitical schemes to the detriment of the interests of the Syrian people.”
Lavrov knows better. Russia has no Western “partners,” just US-led adversaries. Prospects for conflict resolution in Syria are virtually nil.
Russia respects international law, including relevant Security Council resolutions on Syria - not Washington and its imperial allies.
As long as Washington’s objectives in the country remain unchanged, countless more rounds of peace talks will be as fruitless as earlier ones.
That’s the dilemma Russia faces. It has no Western partners for peace in Syria, notably Washington wanting endless war, Assad’s government replaced by pro-Western puppet rule.
US imperial aims rule out any prospect for peace and stability in Syria, as well as in other US war theaters.
Endless wars and turmoil serve its agenda. Peace and stability defeat it.
That’s the cold hard reality Russia has to deal with. Greater UN involvement in Syria won’t change a thing.
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