Assad 'says fighting largely over by end of year' - former Russian PM

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad has forecast that much of the fighting in the Syrian civil war will be over by the end of the year, a former Russian prime minister was quoted on Monday as saying.

"This is what he told me: 'This year the active phase of military action in Syria will be ended. After that we will have to shift to what we have been doing all the time - fighting terrorists'," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Sergei Stepashin as saying.

Stepashin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former head of Russia's FSB security service, portrayed Assad as secure, in control and in "excellent athletic shape" after a meeting in Damascus last week.

"'Tell Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) that I am not Yanukovich, I'm not going anywhere'," Stepashin quoted Assad as saying during their meeting, state-run news agency RIA reported.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/07/uk-syria-crisis-russia-assad-idUKBREA3616C20140407

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. The US is working to ensure that the civil war continues.

We're preparing a new covert assistance initiative out of Jordan right now. We want the killing to continue long enough to force Assad to negotiate his own exit. Fat chance of that, but what's a few thousand more dead Syrians, right?

[uhnope]

2. Disgusting to see Assad and Russia gloating about their war crime victory

bombing whole towns and using chemical weapons so a dictators can stay in power and Russia can continue its dream/nightmare of being a world power

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. This is a failed Arab Spring moment. Syrians were encouraged to rise up...

...by the likes of Washington, London, Paris, Riyadh, and Ankara. Assad was going to fall like Ghaddafi or Mubarek. It was a whole lot of wishful thinking that has gotten a whole lot of people killed. And we still want to bleed Syria more. There are plenty of bloody hands to go around.

[uhnope]

4. "we" want to bleed Syria? It's Assad the blood-drenched dictator that is bleeding Syria.

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. A couple of things:

Yes, "we" want to bleed Syria:

"Obama Appears Ready to Expand Covert Assistance to Syrian Opposition"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-obama-appears-ready-to-expand-covert-assistance-to-syrian-opposition/2014/03/27/06717e6a-b5ff-11e3-8020-b2d790b3c9e1_story.html

<snip>

The expanded program would “send a clear message to the Assad regime that there is no military solution to the struggle,” according to a March memo to the White House from the opposition. Assad “has no incentive to talk” now, the memo argued, because he thinks he is winning.

The rationale, bluntly stated, is that to reach an eventual diplomatic settlement in Syria, it is necessary now to escalate the conflict militarily. This has been a hard pill for Obama to swallow, but prodded by the Saudis, he seems to have reached that point.

----

Also, the Syrian Human Rights Observatory says the deaths in Syria are divided almost equally between regime supporters and opponents. This is not a one-sided massacre, but a multi-sided civil war, with lots of outside players.

Here's just one daily death toll, from Saturday, from the Observatory:
http://syriahr.com/en/index.php?option=com_news&nid=2044&Itemid=2&task=displaynews#.U0MEEqhdXPY

60 civilians ( 11 children, 5 women, 1 teenager )

80 rebels,
35 non-Syrian Islamic fighters,
8 ISIS,
12 unknown rebels,

33 National Defense Forces
51 Regular forces,
15 non-Syrian fighters allied to regime forces.

[uhnope]

7. Do you actually see no difference between Syrians fighting against their dictator

and the dictator bombing cities from the air?

Do you really think the deaths in these situations are equivalent?

Maybe if you're a total pacifist, then fair enough. Otherwise I don't see how you can mount a moral equivalency between the two.

Assad would have fallen long ago if not for the support from larger dictatorships in the world like Russia and China. Not to mention Iran. I think that's where your finger should be pointing.

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. You fail to note that many Syrians support and are fighting for Assad.

It is not a simple "the dictator vs. the Syrian people" scenario.

The regime has committed war crimes; the rebels have committed war crimes. The regime has committed more, but, I suspect, only because it has the wherewithal to do so. If the rebels had the means, they could equal Assad.

The regime is also facing what it considers an existential threat, both to itself and to the communities--Alawites, Christians, some Sunnis--it represents. It brutally smashed a rebellion in 1982 and is doing it again.

Yes, Syria has support from Russia and Iran. Sovereign states get to pick their friends.

Other than calling Assad a dictator, what would you do?

[uhnope]

9. So, wait. If you think the US has blood on its hands in Syria

then you must admit Russia is swimming in it, right?

[jakeXT]

6. He questioned how much it was in America’s interest to tamp down the violence in Syria

Mr. McDonough, who had perhaps the closest ties to Mr. Obama, remained skeptical. He questioned how much it was in America’s interest to tamp down the violence in Syria....Mr. McDonough argued that the status quo in Syria could keep Iran pinned down for years. In later discussions, he also suggested that a fight in Syria between Hezbollah and Al Qaeda would work to America’s advantage.

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/denis-mcdonough-caricature-realism-9307