Finally coming to his senses after a failed “regime change” policy in Syria, President Barack Obama ordered his mobile Secretary of State John Kerry to shift U.S. policy in Syria. Once Russian President Vladimir Putin committed the Russian air force Sept. 30 to battling various Sunni insurgent groups trying to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the White House “regime change” ended. No matter how much Saudi Arabia and its various Wahhabi proxy groups want to upend al-Assad’s Shiite government, Russia and Iran have helped al-Assad stay in power. White House officials should be ashamed of its past policy backing the same groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, that destroyed the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon Sept. 11. No policy should put the U.S. on the same side as al-Qaeda trying to topple al-Assad.
No matter how objectionable al-Assad’s attempt to stay in power, against a well-financed Saudi and U.S. insurgency, including using chemical weapons, the U.S. shouldn’t fight on the side of the same terror groups that struck Sept. 11. Russia’s intervention in Syria has met fierce U.S. propaganda, espoused by Kerry, that the Kremlin has focused its counter-terrorism efforts on various Wahhabi groups other that the ISIS. Shoring up al-Assad’s defenses, Russia has every right and reason to go after any group that seeks to topple al-Assad. Putin wisely concluded that toppling Damascus would open the floodgates of more terrorism in the region. Moscow at least recalls some lesson from the failed U.S. Iraq War, toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein April 10, 2003 at the expense to unleashing the evil genie of Islamic terrorism in Iraq and around the entire Middle East.
Before Putin committed his air force to backing al-Assad, the White House, through the CIA, continued to support, arm and train so-called moderate Syrian rebels. As the program backfired with many of the weapons falling into ISIS’s hands, the White House policy only recently switched to stopping a failed strategy. So many groups, good, bad or indifferent, want al-Assad gone, but only the most well-financed and armed groups like ISIS or al-Nusra front have any chance of toppling Damascus. Putin’s involvement infuriated the White House and State Department, now forcing a change in U.S. policy. Pursuing its blinding regime change policy, Kerry alienated Putin and his counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with all the anti-Kremili rhetoric. Meeting in Vienna with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, Kerry has a golden opportunity to mend fences.
Iran, a key Shiite ally of al-Assad, has committed its Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia and revolutionary guards to protecting Damascus against the Saudi-backed Sunni onslaught. Taking Damascus regime change off the table, Kerry now has a chance to join the Russian-Iranian coalition against various Wahhabi groups trying to topple al-Assad. Completing the P5+1 [U.S., U.K, France, Russia, China and Germany] nuclear deal with Tehran July 14, Kerry has developed a better relationship with Zarif. Welcoming Lavrov and Zarif in Vienna Thursday for talks on how to resolve the Syrian civil war, Kerry has a chance to mend fences with Moscow and Tehran. Backing off the regime change demands opens the door for ongoing talks. U.S. and European Union officials feel increased pressure from the Syrian refugee crisis, sending thousands daily across the Mediterranean to find safe haven in Europe.
Holding talks with the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey Thursday, Lavrov hopes to bring Western partners around to Moscow’s firm view that al-Assad stays until ISIS is defeated by a coalition of powers. With Russia and Iran engaged in military operations to save al-Assad, it’s up to the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey to see the wisdom of leaving al-Assad in power. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the U.S. has had no formal diplomatic ties with Iran. Joining together with Russia, Kerry has a chance to improve relations against a common terrorist enemy plaguing the Mideast and world. Picking-and-choosing terrorist partners was not permitted under the Bush-43 Doctrine following Sept. 11. U.S. policy under President Barack Obama lost its way, partnering with various Sunni terror groups to topple al-Assad. Whether the U.S. likes al-Assad’s policies or not, backing terror group is unacceptable.
Giving the White House credit, they’ve begun a mid-course correction on a failed Syrian strategy. Blinded by Putin’s actions in Ukraine, the White House could not see its failed Syrian policy, joining groups like al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front and ISIS in their quest to topple Damascus. Joining a coalition with Moscow and Tehran gives Washington the best hope on ending the Syria civil war claiming some 250,000 lives, displacing millions of refugees seeking safe haven in Europe. As long as Syria is still recognized by the U.N., no sovereign state should fund a proxy war to topple a legitimate government. Recognizing growing terrorism in the Caucasus states infiltrating Moscow, Putin recognized that all resources must be directed to battling terrorism, including Saudi-backed groups seeking Damascus regime change. Ending its insistence on Syria regime change, the U.S. has finally come around.
