Tillerson: Russia must choose between Assad and the US
Source: Associated Press
By JOSH LEDERMAN
Apr. 11, 2017 7:18 AM EDT
LUCCA, Italy (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued an ultimatum to Russia on Tuesday: Side with the U.S. and likeminded countries on Syria, or embrace Iran, militant group Hezbollah and embattled Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
As he embarked on a trip to Moscow following urgent meetings in Italy with top diplomats, Tillerson said it was unclear whether Russia had failed to take seriously its obligation to rid Syria of chemical weapons, or had merely been incompetent. But he said the distinction "doesn't much matter to the dead."
"We cannot let this happen again," the secretary of state said.
"We want to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people. Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role," Tillerson added in remarks to reporters. "Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve Russia's interests longer term."
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e5861e088116431dab56d7a28931dfc1/tillerson-russia-must-choose-between-assad-and-us
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)...it's a perfect plan executed...
The goal of all this kabuki theater...and what and why Comrade Trumpsky, Tillerson, Flynn, Manacort, Page etc all have been working towards....it's why Putin wanted Trump, it's what Manafort was being paid for, it's why Carter Page was "recruited", it's why Mike Flynn sat at a table next to Putin and was meeting with the Russian Ambassador last December, it's why Trump's attorney was meeting with the Ukrainian Parliament member. And all those other meetings between bankers and oligarchs and members of the Trump family (hello Jared) was the money arrangements for the massive debt pay-off and now profiteering for the Kushner Trump Empire....and Russia.
The "Missiles on Syria" episode is playing out perfectly...and now that Angela Merkel and other European Nations have applauded it, it will be easy for Trump and Kushner and Tillerson to "Broker the Peace" and the Price: you got it....sanctions lifted on Russia....
TomCADem
(17,378 posts)Trump is trying to pretend that his year long campaign to move closer to both Russia and Syria did not take place.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/17/trumps-syria-strategy-would-be-a-disaster/
The president-elect wants to ally with Assad and Russia to fight the Islamic State but hes going to end up empowering extremists and causing chaos across the Middle East.
Late last week, President-elect Donald Trump explained for the first time since his election victory his position on the crisis in Syria. In his remarks, he laid out his determination to ramp up the fight against the Islamic State and to cease support to those fighting President Bashar al-Assads regime:Ive had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria. My attitude was youre fighting Syria; Syria is fighting ISIS; and you have to get rid of ISIS. Russia is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran, which is becoming powerful, because of us, is aligned with Syria. Now were backing rebels against Syria, and we have no idea who these people are.
This is an extraordinary simplification of a highly complex crisis. But the president-elects views on Syria do evince some consistency just not the consistency he apparently intends. Trump says he wants to focus on destroying the Islamic State. The main effect of the policies he describes, however, would be to eliminate the moderate opposition to the Assad regime and to empower extremism.
Before considering all the disastrous effects of Trumps policy, we should examine why even his stated justification for it doesnt hold water. A brief history lesson should suffice to demonstrate the Assad regimes lack of counterterrorism qualifications. This is the government whose intelligence apparatus methodically built al Qaeda in Iraq, and then the Islamic State in Iraq, into a formidable terrorist force to fight U.S. troops in that country from 2003 to 2010. Hundreds of American soldiers would probably still be alive today if it had not been for Assads state-backed support to the Islamic States direct predecessors.
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)...the path of disaster that Trump is going down and where it will lead....
And I still stand by my reasoning above as to what the goal is and what will be coming related to the lifting of sanctions. There is no question in my mind how they will try to "package and sell" this all. But it will ultimately be a failure and disaster.
Assad is screwed and he knows it. There are things he did that led to the creation of ISIS and the civil war and refugee crisis. He has done things that are so horrible and criminal (as any dictator in history has done in killing and torturing its own people) and he has gotten away with it because he had his "best friend" in Russia by his side protecting and supplying him with weapons and economically. But Putin is nobody's friend and he just screwed Assad and has signed his death warrant for Putins own benefit - it's even possible in my opinion that Putin arranged that chemical weapon attack so Assad got blamed (and they tried to cover it up - possibly successfully). Trump got to have his fireworks show and now Tillerson, Haley and the Trump Cabal can look tough on Russia, broker peace and Russia gets what they want....Trump too...
My bet also is that some kind of agreement will involve not just sanctions lifted off Russia and Russia agreeing to some kind of "economic infrastructure rebuild of Syria", but a big joint military presence of both US and Russia in Syria...and Iran will be out...
But none of this will work out well for the rest of world...and a bigger mess will result for all...
But Trump and Putin don't care... They get everything they want...
Baitball Blogger
(46,573 posts)What could go wrong?
Maven
(10,533 posts)You put it all together better than I did. I am holding out hope that their greed will be their undoing. It may be that the FBI is waiting for Trump to consummate the whole conspiracy before moving on him and his crew.
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)Just read your OP....
Great minds think alike...
I hope too by the way that this whole process by the FBI and intelligence community investigation is that it is one big sting operation and they have just been waiting to catch all the players, the biggest fish and the "crimes" committed....
TomCADem
(17,378 posts)Shouldn't that question be posed to Trump and Tillerson?
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/trump-and-putin-discuss-coordinating-on-isis-and-syria-kremlin-says/ar-AAmma1m?li=BBnb7Kz
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had their first official phone conversation Saturday, agreeing to partner in the fight against terrorism and the Arab-Israeli conflict and to forge stronger economic and political ties between their two countries, the Kremlin said.
At a moment of badly strained relations between the United States and Russia, Trump has hoped to cultivate a great relationship with Putin despite domestic pressures to maintain sanctions against Moscow.
Trumps call with Putin was one in a series of conversations he had Saturday with world leaders as he seeks to develop a personal rapport with the heads of such traditional U.S. allies as France, Germany and Japan.
His conversation with Putin comes during a period of tension for the two countries brought by Russias role in the Ukrainian crisis and the war in Syria, as well as the conclusion by U.S. intelligence agencies that Putin ordered systematic hacking of Democratic emails to tip the presidential election in Trumps favor have strained. The leaders agreed to have their staffs determine a possible time and place for their first meeting, the Kremlin said.
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)I certainly hope that the Intelligence community got that transcript too as part of their investigation....I wonder how much of the planning towards that goal was done the last few months following that call and executed last Thursday...
TomCADem
(17,378 posts)During the campaign, he repeatedly asked, "Wouldn't it be nice if we got along with Russia?" So, it is kind of hard to believe that a chemical that is much smaller than the one said President Obama should ignore suddenly caused him to changed his mind.
Javaman
(62,439 posts)pootie has trump wrapped around his finger and controls assad.
he doesn't have to choose shit. LOL
Stuart G
(38,359 posts)Oh NO, ....not smart...
Does this idiot have any experience in this field?? foreign relations?
To Putin????????????????..give me a brake ............
Isn't Putting the guy that got Trump elected????????
OH WELL .................. .....oh.......and...............one more...
3_Limes
(363 posts)Didn't a previous President go this route? "You're either with us, or you're against us."
Oh well. Like Spicer says, he is The Decider, after all.
haele
(12,581 posts)We'll rattle our sabers a little, Russia will rattle theirs; and continue to send their Navy to the brand new base they built in Syria. And make money selling weapons to their good friends, the Assad regime.
We all know the game.
Haele
QC
(26,371 posts)to get them to abandon Assad.