Edging closer to approval as President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, 64-year-old former Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson has won over Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), both key GOP votes. “After careful consideration, and much discussion with Mr. Tillerson, we have decided to support his nomination as secretary of state,” said McCain and Graham, signaling that they’re leaning toward reconciliation with Russia. Backing Tillerson, McCain and Graham accept that the Cold War days of slamming the Russians must come to an end. McCain and Graham continue to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s biggest critics but backing Tillerson shows they’re willing to give Trump a chance to reset U.S.-Russian relations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said today he believes all of Trump’s Cabinet picks will be confirmed.
Tillerson faced criticism for his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, receiving directly the “Order of Friendship” award in 2013, one of Russia’s highest honors for foreign citizens. Concerns about Tillerson’s ties to Russia while deal-making at Exxon-Mobil were counterbalanced against his strong ties to reset U.S.-Russian relations. Because of Putin’s annexation of Crimea March 1, 2014 and former President Barack Obama’s six-year backing of Saudi-funded rebel groups seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it drove U.S.-Russian relations to the lowest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Backing Tillerson signals that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is getting behind the idea to reestablishing closer ties with the Russian Federation. Picking Tillerson also signals that Trump no longer plans to back opposition groups in Syria.
Meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan today, Russia, Turkey and Iran are trying to work out a framework to end the six-year-old Syrian War, costing 400,000 deaths, 12 million Syrians displaced to neighboring countries, creating the biggest humanitarian crisis since WWII. When Putin decided to aid al-Assad Sept. 30, 2015 with air-strikes against Saudi-U.S.-Turkey backed rebel groups, it tilted the war to al-Assad. Obama’s insistence on backing Saudi-funded rebel groups like Mohammad Alloush’s Jaysh al-Islam, drove U.S.-Russian relations to the darkest days of the Cold War. Obama couldn’t tell Saudi Arabia’s King Salman or Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir to stand down in their attempt to topple al-Assad. After defeating Jaysh al-Islam and other rebel groups in East Aleppo Dec. 16, 2016 rebel groups have retreated to Idlib province where they hope to regroup to resume the war against al-Assad.
Approving Tillerson as Secretary of State there will be no more White House support for Saudi-funded rebel groups hoping to topple al-Assad’s Shiite government, replacing it with a Salafist or Wahhabi regime practicing strict Sharia law. Trump has already signaled he won’t back Obama’s strategy of pitting the U.S. against Russia in Syria. “Though we still have concerns about his past dealing with the Russian government and [Russian] President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests,” said McCain and Graham, spelling good news for Trump. Rebel leaders led by Mohammad Alloush hope Putin takes a more neutral stance about the fate of al-Assad in any future Syrian government. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has said publicly that the war in Syria won’t end until al-Assad leaves Damascus.
Rebel leaders and Syrian government officials hoped to work out details of a permanent truce but, while the talks go on in Astana, Syrian and Russian forces continue to bombard rebel positions. Neither Russian nor Syria has agreed to cede any territory in Syria to rebel groups, despite strongholds in Idlib province. For two years, Geneva-based U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura has pandered to the Saudis while Syra became the latest Killing Fields. With support from the U.S. and Turkey to topple al-Assad, de Mistura refused confront the Saudis for continuing the Arab Spring, trying to topple Mideast dictators. Syrian opposition spokesman Yahya al-Aridi hoped to get Russian to back demands to see al-Assad removed from any political transition. Al-Aridi knows that once Saudi-backed rebel groups were evicted from Aleppo, they could not longer make demands to oust al-Assad.
Peace talks in Kazakhstan hinge on Russia, Iran and Turkey telling opposition groups they can no longer expect to occupy sovereign Syrian territory. “If the other side [Syria, Russia and Iran] doesn’t care about stopping the bloodshed in Syria, and care most about staying in power at the expense of Syrian blood . . . in that case, nothing will work,” said al-Aridi, acting like rebel groups can still call the shots. Calling the Iranian “occupiers,” al-Aridi shows he can blow smoke. Russians, Iranians and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia are in Syria at al-Assad’s request, not like al-Aridi’s opposition groups continuing to violate Syria’s sovereignty. Opposition groups blame Syria, Russia and Iran for the brutality heaped on Aleppo, knowing that their refusal to get out of Syrian territory caused the carnage. With Tillerson at the helm, the Saudis won’t call the shots in Syria.
