General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Russia has started bombing ISIS/coordinating with Syrian gov. [View all]karynnj
(59,501 posts)organized others to do so. Note that Russia is also not putting in ground troops. One "advantage" they have is that the ground troops they can coordinate with are the Syrian army - barrel bombs and all.
I think the US was correct that it could not be US (or European) troops on the ground - as even a win could not be sustained without staying there forever. However, no matter who in the Obama administration spoke - there was always concern about vetting the rebels and the reality that many were connected to groups that were not really on our side. ( I have heard HRC's comments that had they trained the rebels in 2011/2012 when she and Petraeus wanted to it would have been different than now. She does have an advantage here in that as one path not taken, the end result can't be known. However, it does seem that a fair proportion of the rebels joined ISIS or Al Nusra.)
However, if you wanted to select just one event that triggered this descent into chaos, it was not the US. It was Assad ordering a violent attack on unarmed protesters. That and the subsequent atrocities he committed have made stepping backward impossible or at least quite difficult.
I suspect that given the public comments, there is some hope for a political resolution - that likely leaves Assad in until defined elections that he will be barred from. There will be some limited face saving concessions on all sides with no one happy. (Obama/Kerry will be attacked more on this than Iran if it happens with both the Republicans and HRC arguing that there could have been a better solution with Assad going off to face war crimes. In reality, it might be that - at least for the short term - the need to end the chaos and killing will have to take precedence over calls that justice requires that he face ICC charges. Consider that, the leader of Sudan, who also committed war crimes. The US manoevered around him to achieve some diplomatic goals - which led to the creation of South Sudan. Had South Sudan worked out better, it would make a great case that this was the right thing to do.