Tillerson on Syria

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson unveiled an ambitious US strategy for ousting Syrian President Bashar al Assad on Wednesday that relies on an indefinite US military presence in the country, an insurrection within the Assad regime and a groundswell of support from the beleaguered Syrian people.

  Buzzfeed

Christ, did we go back in time about three years, or what?

Tillerson says that “our expectation is that the desire for a return to normal life … will help rally the Syrian people and individuals within the regime to compel Assad to step down.”

That's what we were saying years ago. It hasn't happened. What's changed to make anyone think it will?

The speech [...] marks a departure from language drafted between the US and Russian officials in Vietnam in November.

[...]

A central pillar to Tillerson’s plan, delivered in a speech at Stanford University, is a UN-supervised election that Tillerson predicted would result in new leadership.

Do we now just pipe up dreams and call them plans?

One individual familiar with the decision told BuzzFeed News the stronger language could create the conditions for dismantling Assad’s rule.

Do you think Russia or Iran might have something to say about all this? Or even Assad and the Syrians themselves?

The decision to approve a lasting US military presence in Syria was approved by Trump at a National Security Council meeting on Dec. 21.

The US military currently has about 2,000 troops in Syria working with a local force made up primarily of Syrian Kurds. It was unclear how large a contingent of US military might be required for a longterm commitment.

I don't understand how this can be done. It's like an occupation. The occupied country did not invite us to stick around.

Tillerson said the military presence would be in addition to an unspecified number of US diplomats working on so-called stabilization programs in a country where as many as 6 million people are displaced and where many of the cities have been devastated by more than six years of war.

Should we maybe mention the fact that we don't have any fucking diplomats left because of Tillerson (and Trump)?

On Wednesday, Pentagon officials and spokespeople for Operation Inherent Resolve, the anti-ISIS coalition, would not comment on why the US military was setting up such a force and whether it would require additional US troops. Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdoğan has vowed to "strangle it before it's even born.”

So. No problems, then.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.