Insisting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down as soon as a transitional authority is named, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir continues to push Saudi-funded rebel groups seeking to oust Damascus. Whether or not a Wahhabi-Sunni takeover is behind Saudi proxy war against al-Assad, al-Jubeir’s admissions raise eyebrows before new Syrian peace talks March 9. When Russia’s bombing campaign threatened to defeat the Syria High Negotiation Committee [HNC], various Saudi-funded rebel groups near Aleppo, they called for a ceasefire Feb. 27. Al-Jubeir’s insistence that al-Assad leave Damascus fully displays Saudi Arabia’s dog in the Syrian fight. Special U.N. Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura said recently that he makes no judgment about al-Assad’s fate. De Mistura knows that Russia and Iran insist decisions about al-Assad rest only with the Syrian people.
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry changed the U.S. position Dec. 15, 2015 in Moscow, telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. postpones any decision on al-Assad. Heading to new talks in Geneva next week, al-Jubeir insists that al-Assad must go. “Assad has to leave at the beginning of the process,” said al-Jubeir, sabotaging the upcoming talks. “There is a transitional body, power shift from Assad to the transitional body, and then he goes,” said al-Jubeir, setting conditions to achieve King Salman’s non-negotiable goal of Damacus regime change. Putin told the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 28, 2015 that forcing al-Assad out would repeat the mistakes of Iraq and Libya, opening the Mideast to more chaos. Saudi officials aren’t happy that the White House sees Putin’s logic and no longer makes al-Assad’s ouster as a condition of peace talks.
When Saudi Arabia decided to fund the Arab Spring in 2011, no one knew the consequences to Middle East security. What looked like a democracy movement in Egypt turned into a hostile takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood, the same group that spawned Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Since toppling the 30-year-reign of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Feb. 11, 2011, Egypt’s been in martial law. After U.S.-educated Mohamed Morsi came to power June 30, 2012, it didn’t take long for Egypt’s military commander Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to topple Morsi July 3, 2013 after Morsi suspended Egypt’s High Court and declared Sharia law. Whether toppling Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine bin-Ali Jan. 14, 2011 or Libya strongman Col. Muammar Gaddi Aug. 24, 2011, the Saudi-backed Arab Spring brought disaster to the Middle East.
Now Saudi Arabia wants to topple al-Assad in Syria, promising, as Putin warned, to bring more anarchy and chaos to the region. While the fragile truce holds in Syria, the High Negotiation Committee threatens to boycott the talks unless al-Assad agrees to step down. With Russian and Iran calling the shots, it’s doubtful Riyadh can impose its demands. “There is a transitional body, power shifts from Assad to the transitional body, then he goes,” said al-Jubeir, hoping to impose the Saudi will on the upcoming peace talks. When the HNC made the same demands in Geneva Feb. 1, peace talks collapsed Feb. 3. Al-Assad has made clear he has no intention of stepping down at the Saudi’s behest. De Mistura walks a tightrope placating the Saudis, dealing with the Russians and Iranians, and, at the same time, getting al-Assad to buy into a peace process to end the five-year-old war.
Saudi Arabia hopes to re-supply rebel groups during the current ceasefire. When the U.S. and U.N. Security Council brokered the ceasefire Feb. 27, Saudi-backed rebel forces were near defeat. Five years of war have killed 250,000 Syria civilians, displacing millions more to neighboring countries and Europe. Considered the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII, the Saudi-funded proxy war shows no end in sight. “For us, it is very clear, he leaves at the beginning of the process, not at the end,” said al-Jubeir making de Mistura’s job in Geneva next to impossible.. Setting impossible conditions, King Salman and al-Jubeir practically guarantees that the March 9 Geneva talks fail. Continuing the same propaganda during he Arab Spring, al-Jubeir wants the world to believe the Saudi-backed proxy war is really a homegrown Syrian revolt because of years of al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship.
To prevent another failed peace effort, Kerry should tell al-Jubeir that Saudi Arabia can’t call the shots in Geneva. Real peace talks are needed to reverse the humanitarian crisis that threatens the European Union. Watched carefully in London, if there’s no end in sight to the Syrian War and EU’s immigration crisis, it could push the U.K. out of the EU. Geneva gives Kerry the perfect opportunity to mend fences with Putin and figure out the quickest possible end to the Syrian War. It makes no sense to let the Saudis sabotage another round of peace talks, but, more importantly, continue to damage U.S.-Russian relations. It’s clear that Saudi Arabia and Turkey have their own agendas in Syria, not necessarily ending the war. U.S and EU interests in Syria more closely parallel Moscow, ending the Saudi-backed rebels insisting that toppling al-Assad is the only way to end the war.
