This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Peace shifts conditions back to square one with Assad firmly in control. Longstanding Washington plans call for replacing him with a pro-Western regime. Achieving it requires conflict, not diplomacy. It's raged for over 12 months and won't end now.
On April 1, US-led "Friends of Syria" meet in Istanbul. At issue is war, not peace, toppling Assad, isolating Iran, and consolidating greater US regional control.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said 74 countries confirmed they're coming. Hillary Clinton will represent Washington. She's arriving from Saudi Arabia. She and King Abdullah discussed conflict, not peace, strategies. Their meeting included private one-on-one talks.
On Saturday, Clinton said:
"The commitment of the United States to the people and the nations of the Gulf is rock-solid and unwavering. Our strong bilateral relationships are a rock of stability in the region."
Washington, of course, needs instability and violence. Peace defeats its regime change agenda. Syria and Iran are next. America will keep ravaging the region until it achieves unchallenged control. It may end up destroying it in the process along with millions more lives.
Expect Assad to be condemned for continuing to confront insurgents. On March 30, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich effectively accused the "Friends of Syria" of being up to no good. He said they plan to condemn him for continuing to confront insurgent violence instead of unilaterally pulling back.
Partners are required for peace. One without the other assures failure. Washington-backed insurgents plan stepping up, not halting violence. Arms flow in to help them. Humanitarian "safe zones" in Syrian territory are planned. Assad won't tolerate what he knows assures greater violence and likely NATO intervention.
At the same time, he'll be blamed for violating Annan's peace plan he committed to observe. Although it commits both sides "to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United Nations supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians and stabilize the country," one side can't do it without the other.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
