Did Syria survive the weekend?
That is the only question that I have for the world today….
And the answer is……..yes it did! To my surprise……..
Both Syrian rebels and government allies reported multiple ceasefire violations over the weekend, each blaming the other side for all violations, but by and large the ceasefire held through the weekend, with fighting enormously down from pre-ceasefire levels.
Russia announced late on Saturday that it is grounding all its warplanes in Syrian territory, despite the ceasefire allowing them to continue attacks on ISIS and al-Qaeda targets, saying they didn’t want there to be any “mistakes” to threaten the truce.
The rebels also say that they are going to stick to the ceasefire for the time being, but that they also intend to complain to the United Nations about “Russian violations” and also complained about the US not keeping them more directly involved in the negotiations.
(antiwar.com)
The world seems to think that the ceasefire will be a beginning for the the end of the conflict in Syria……
The US and Russia are hoping that the partial Syrian cease-fire agreement they reached will begin a new phase of the war.
Source: US-Russian Cease-Fire Pact: Closer to a Syria War Endgame?
John Kerry was right to present the ceasefire deal in Syria as a last chance to keep the country in whole. But this “last chance” is too slim to hope for it to succeed…….
Source: The “Day After” Syria’s Ceasefire Failure | Middle East Briefing
Let us say that the ceasefire was a bust….what could possibly the future for the conflict in Syria?
As Secretary of State John Kerry seriously pursues a Russian-American-United Nations administered cease-fire and humanitarian relief effort as the first concret……(read on)……
Source: Obama’s Zig-Zag Path to NATO Boots in Syria | Middle East Briefing
Could there possibly be another plan…a plan “B” if you will……..
Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, Secretary of State John Kerry suggested the latest push for a ceasefire in Syria could amount to the last chance for one, and suggested that the US would see a partition of the country as “plan B.”
Kerry didn’t offer any details on how this would work, of course, but that fact that the US is mentioning partition at all is a huge step, as the US has fiercely resisted similar considerations in neighboring Iraq, which itself is facing a near identical war with many of the same combatants.
Kerry said if the ceasefire didn’t get into place, it would soon be “too late” to allow Syria to remain whole, and that the partition of the country could form an “eventual solution” to the civil war, which has raged for the past five years.
(antiwar.com)
A partition of Syria? That was not a consideration for Iraq, then what makes it a plan for Syria?