Meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in posh Davos, Switzerland, 65-year-old Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and 70-year-old Secretary of State John Kerry tried to hash out an acceptable list of players in the long-awaited Syrian peace talks in Geneva. Since the so-called Syrian “civil war” at the heights of the Arab Spring March 11, 2011, some estimates peg 250,000 deaths and over 2 million refugees streaming into neighboring Arab states and Europe. Causing the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII, the Syrian War now threatens economic and political stability in the 21-year-old European Union. Meeting in Berlin this week, European leaders hope to find a fix to the immigration crisis stretching the EU to the breaking point. Looking to Geneva peace talks led by 68-year-old U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, the EU hopes for progress.
Closely allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russa and Iran won’t accept Saudi-funded terrorist groups as part of settling the five-year-old Syrian War. Global media and foreign governments, largely influenced by a Saudi Arabian propaganda campaign, have called the Syrian conflict “civil war.” Talking in Davos, Lavrov put the cards on the table, telling Kerry that the Syrian War is really a heavily Saudi funded Sunni proxy war against Syria’s Shiite government. Unless the U.S. and other Western powers expose the Saudi “civil war” narrative, no progress can be made to stop the proxy war now threatening civil and economic chaos in the Mideast and Europe. For nearly five years, the White House rubber-stamped the Saudi policy of toppling al-Assad’s Shiite government. Backing Saudi Arabia, opened up the biggest rift with Russia since ending of the Cold War.
Obama and Kerry miscalculated Sunni-Shiite differences in Iraq, often blaming former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for not putting more Sunnis into his Shiite government. In reality, al-Malki’s military was so infiltrated with Sunnis, including radical Islamic terrorists, that his army fell apart, giving rise to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. Conservatives on Capitol Hill, especially Neocons like House Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), blamed Obama for pulling out of Iraq prematurely. After al-Maliki refused to give the Pentagon an indemnity agreement, Obama pulled out the troops Dec. 15, 2011. Divided loyalties, between al-Maliki’s Shiite government, and Sunnis once loyal to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, caused Iraq’s military to collapse, allowing ISIS to seize more than 30% of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Choosing between the Saudis and Russians hasn’t’ been easy for White House regarding what to do with al-Assad. Riyadh has been adamant about regime change in Damascus. When Kerry met with Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin Dec. 15, he modified the U.S. position, putting regime change on hold. Putin reminded Kerry what happened when the U.S. backed toppling Mideast dictators like Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Jan. 14, 2011, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak Feb. 11, 2011 and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi Aug. 23, 2011, Islamic terrorists flooded the region. Only al-Assad marshaled the resources to resist a determined Saudi effort to oust him. Putin told Obama and Kerry that ousting Mideast dictators has spread Islamic terror and anarchy to the region. Putin believes that toppling al-Assad would repeat the same mistake in Iraq and Libya, endangering the region.
Kerry and Lavrov must come up with a list of acceptable participants in the expected Jan. 25 Geneva peace talks, now in doubt. Putin, Lavrov, Tehran and Damascus want no part of Saudi funded terror groups that sought to oust al-Assad over the past five years. Killing Saudi favorite Jaysh al-Islam’s Zahran Alloush Dec. 25, 2015 with a Russian air strike and Ahrar ash-Shama’s Hassan Aboud Sept. 9, 2014, Syria, Russia and Iran want none of these terror groups sitting at the peace table. Saudi’s 53-year-old U.S.-educated Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir shared openly his regrets about Alloush’s Dec. 25 death. Before any progress can be made in Syrian peace talks, Western powers must admit Saudi Arabia’s determined proxy war to topple al-Assad’s Shiite regime. Obama and Kerry must stop denying Saudi’s heavily funded proxy war against al-Assad.
Joining ISIS or al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra front in their plan to topple al-Assad’s Shiite government should have alerted the White House to its hypocritical and dangerous foreign policy. Before de Mistura can make any progress in Geneva on resolving the Syrian war, the U.S. must accept that it’s not a “civil war” but a carefully planned and funded Saudi proxy war. While it’s difficult for the U.S. or EU to oppose Saudi Arabia, they must see through the propaganda to what’s best for the region. No Wahhabi Sunni or Salafist Islamic group can lead to anything buy chaos in Syria. White House officials haven’t admitted that U.S. foreign policy was aligned with ISIS and al-Qaeda to topple al-Assad’s Shiite regime. No Islamic group that aligns itself with ISIS or al-Qaeda should be at peace talks in Geneva. White House officials must let Riyadh know they’re no longer calling the shots.
