Bet you thought that with all the press around the failed rollout of the ACA that the rest of the world has gone into hibernation until the rest of us realize that life is still going on beyond the shores of the US…….well you would be mistaken……..Syria is still not anywhere near a solved problem.  And that is why I am here…….

For instance, there has been great progress in locating the CWs that Assad has stashed around the country……everyone is very pleased that the plan has been so successful…..all I can say is that we should not pat ourselves on the back just yet…..why?

(Newser) – Here’s something you may not know about the effort to rid Syria of its chemical weapons: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons isn’t just tasked with making that happen —it also has to raise the money needed to do the job. And the roughly $13.5 million it has amassed so far will only fund its operations through November, meaning it will have to drum up more cash in order to actually ship Syria’s chemical arsenal out of the country for destruction, reports Reuters.

The US has been the leading donor to the fund (Reuters puts the figure at $6 million, but says some of that went to the UN, and some represents equipment and training, not cash), and has been joined by countries like Britain, Canada, and Germany. What will the total tab end up being? If Bashar al-Assad is to be believed, $1 billion; experts are much more conservative in their estimations, giving a range that runs from tens of millions to hundreds of millions.

Money?  The answer to everything!  Who or where will the cash come from to eliminate these horrendous weapons?  Care to venture a guess?

With that said….there has been a movement to get all sides to sit down and see if there is an equitable solution to all the fighting and violence…..it is a hopeful sign that progress could be made……but unfortunately another snag has arisen…after all it is the Middle East and snags are a daily occurrence….

From a report in AJE……

Adding to the long list of complications that could undermine a long-awaited peace conference for Syria, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Wednesday that peace talks could only succeed if foreign powers — namely the U.S. and Saudi Arabia — end their material support of Syria’s rebels who are fighting to overthrow him.

Syrian state television quoted Assad as saying “the success of any political solution is tied to stopping support for terrorist groups and pressuring their patron states,” during the meeting in Damascus. Assad has repeatedly condemned foreign aid, especially from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Qatar, for armed rebel factions, who he calls “terrorists.”

As war continues to batter Syria’s weary citizens, tentative optimism about a renewed push for peace in Syria has fallen by the wayside since the Arab League announced last week that the Geneva 2 peace conference had been slated for Nov. 23-24.

Unnamed Arab and Western officials told Reuters on Wednesday that the November target date was beginning to look unrealistic as international powers wrangling behind closed doors butt heads and the Syrian National Coalition, the most widely recognized opposition group, refuses to sign on.