by Robert Whitcomb | Jul 26, 2016 | News
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on July 26 that the U.S. hopes to announce in early August details of planned military cooperation and intelligence-sharing with Russia on Syria.
But given Moscow’s actions so far in going all out to support the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and how the Russians have generally ignored U.S. pleas to stop bombing anti-Assad forces that are not connected with Islamic terror groups such as Isis and al-Qaida, most observers expect little change. The U.S. is increasingly seen as lacking will in the Syrian conflict.
Reuters reported that the latest proposals “would have the two powers share intelligence to coordinate air strikes against the al Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front and prohibit the Syrian air force from attacking rebel groups labeled as moderate.”
To read the Reuters article, please hit this link.
by Robert Whitcomb | Jul 18, 2016 | News
In a plea that’s unlikely to be respected by Turkey’s increasingly dictatorial president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, European politicians and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have called on Turkey to respect the rule of law amid a purge of state institutions in the aftermath of the botched coup.
Mr. Kerry told a news government: “We …urge the government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation’s democratic institutions and the rule of law. We will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that.”
As Turkish authorities consider restoring the death penalty for those either in the coup or simply those whom Mr. Erdogan deems political enemies, the E.U. has warned that for Turkey to restore the death penalty would doom its {already probably doomed attempts} to join the E.U. Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian government and Islamist tendencies make it an unlikely member of a group of open, secular democracies.
To read a Guardian article on this, please hit this link.
by Robert Whitcomb | Jun 17, 2016 | Initiative
51 U.S. mid- to high-level diplomats have signed an internal memo critical of U.S. policy in Syria. They call for military strikes against President/Dictator Bashar Assad’s government to stop its persistent violations of a civil war ceasefire.
The memo calls for “targeted military strikes” against the Syrian government in light of the near-collapse of the ceasefire brokered earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing copies of the cable it had seen.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Reuters on Friday: “It’s an important statement and I respect the process, very, very much. I will … have a chance to meet with people when I get back (to Washington).”
To read The Wall Street Journal story, please hit this link.
To read the Reuters story, please hit this link.
