Syria: Assad-regime apparently willing to surrender & destroy chemical weapons

[Tender Branson]

Syrian Minister Says Syria Welcomes New Plan

MOSCOW — Syria’s foreign minister says his country welcomes Russia’s proposal for it to place its chemical weapons under international control and then dismantle them quickly to avert United States strikes.

The statement from the minister, Walid al-Moallem, came a few hours after Secretary of State John Kerry said President Bashar al-Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons by his forces by surrendering control of “every single bit” of his arsenal to the international community by the end of the week. Mr. Kerry did not appear to be searching for a political solution when he made the comment, as he immediately dismissed the idea that Mr. Assad would comply.

http://projects.nytimes.com/live-dashboard/syria#sha=c37adc3d8

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Wait, I thought Obama's strike proposals were pointless and weren't going to accomplish anything?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Wait, I thought Obama's strike proposals were pointless and weren't going to accomplish anything?

This won't save lives. Syrians will just kill each other with more bombs and bullets.

[Silent Hunter]

Wait, I thought Obama's strike proposals were pointless and weren't going to accomplish anything?

This won't save lives. Syrians will just kill each other with more bombs and bullets.

You can't do mass killing as easily with those. This seems a decent proposal and Assad should take it.

[Zioneer]

This is giving Assad the benefit of the doubt though.

[Lief 🗽]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

[opebo]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

But we want to undermine the policy, because it is bad policy.  I consider this bit of news to be quite sad - it means Assad may be on the ropes, and the Islamists are that much closer to winning.

[Lief 🗽]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

But we want to undermine the policy, because it is bad policy.  I consider this bit of news to be quite sad - it means Assad may be on the ropes, and the Islamists are that much closer to winning.

Alternatively it means that Assad is confident he can win without chemical weapons now.

[J. J.]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

If the purpose was to give the Russians a bigger role in the Middle East, it worked perfectly. 

A bit more seriously, it is a bit better than air strikes. 

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

If the purpose was to give the Russians a bigger role in the Middle East, it worked perfectly. 

A bit more seriously, it is a bit better than air strikes. 

Only if it works.  Verification is going to be a bitch.  And what happens if after Russia "certifies" it has all of Assad's chemical weapons under control there is another chemical weapon attack?

[ilikeverin]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

If the purpose was to give the Russians a bigger role in the Middle East, it worked perfectly. 

A bit more seriously, it is a bit better than air strikes. 

Only if it works.  Verification is going to be a bitch.  And what happens if after Russia "certifies" it has all of Assad's chemical weapons under control there is another chemical weapon attack?

That's why I would hope they'd build in safeguards into any such agreement that would guarantee some sort of punitive action if this sort of thing happens again.  If Russia wants to take care of this, fine, but then they have to be on the hook if Assad does something like this again.

[Silent Hunter]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

If the purpose was to give the Russians a bigger role in the Middle East, it worked perfectly. 

A bit more seriously, it is a bit better than air strikes. 

Indeed. Assad knows that while he can retaliate, there is no way he can prevent a US/French attack from doing serious damage to his forces.

[Oakvale]

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

Thankfully Sec. Kerry did a bit of undermining our foreign policy himself with his off-script remark.

[Blue3]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

Thankfully Sec. Kerry did a bit of undermining our foreign policy himself with his off-script remark.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/john-kerry-syria-solution_n_3901863.html

[NewYorkExpress]

Putin and Assad are damn good actors I'll give them that...

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

Thankfully Sec. Kerry did a bit of undermining our foreign policy himself with his off-script remark.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/john-kerry-syria-solution_n_3901863.html

Ok, this idea had been put forward by the Russians at the G-20.  Still, Kerry's statement may have helped push the Syrians to respond to the proposal, and makes it harder for the US to go forward with a strike once Syria indicated it's assent to the proposal.  I doubt though the Administration was taking the proposal seriously - otherwise, why was it never brought up even to Congress?

[Blue3]

It's even now a rather farfetched idea.

And now I'm starting to remember how many other promises Assad has made and broken, I'm leaning to rejecting this. It's likely just a distraction to buy some time.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

It's even now a rather farfetched idea.

And now I'm starting to remember how many other promises Assad has made and broken, I'm leaning to rejecting this. It's likely just a distraction to buy some time.

What promises has he made?  Anyway, any agreement is going to have verification measures.  If you are in favor of rejecting this without even seeing if there can be a workable plan, it means you are willing to accept chemical weapons being left in Syria for Assad or whomever or whatever comes after him.

[Tender Branson]

U.S. and Russia Reach Deal to Secure Syria’s Chemical Arms



GENEVA — The United States and Russia have reached an agreement that calls for Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons to be removed or destroyed by the middle of 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday.

Under a “framework” agreement, international inspectors must be on the ground in Syria by November, Mr. Kerry said, speaking at a news conference with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey V. Lavrov.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/world/middleeast/syria-talks.html

Excellent.

[Lief 🗽]

Barack Obama continues to be the most successful foreign policy president in decades.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Barack Obama continues to be the most successful foreign policy president in decades.

And at one time Neville Chamberlain was hailed as one of Britain's greatest PMs.  If this works, fine and dandy, but it's way too soon for Obama to be planning his second Peace Prize speech.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Hard to tell if this is sincere or just delaying tactics by the Russians, but at least it seems our threats are working. If only the True Leftists and the teabaggers would stop competing to see who could most thoroughly undermine our foreign policy...

Traitors. Something must be done about them.

[Silent Hunter]

And at one time Neville Chamberlain was hailed as one of Britain's greatest PMs.  If this works, fine and dandy, but it's way too soon for Obama to be planning his second Peace Prize speech.

The Second World War wasn't Chamberlain's fault. Baldwin could have stopped Hitler in 1936.

[Blue3]

I really don't think this will fix it. I hope I'm wrong.

And even if it does fix the chemical weapons problem... there's still the fact that the Assad regime has killed over 100,000 of its own people by "ordinary" means. The method of mass murder should not matter when a government is being judged. We should still intervene, Assad should still go.