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US Should Abandon Assad Must Go Rhetoric, Cooperate With Russia in Syria

© AFP 2023 / LOUAI BESHARASyrian men walk past a poster bearing a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus, on February 27, 2016, as the first major ceasefire of the five-year war takes hold and an international task force prepares to begin monitoring the landmark truce
Syrian men walk past a poster bearing a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus, on February 27, 2016, as the first major ceasefire of the five-year war takes hold and an international task force prepares to begin monitoring the landmark truce - Sputnik International
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Cooperation between Washington and Moscow on the Syrian crisis would be better for the United States than attempts to topple Bashar Assad by military force, an article in the Los Angeles Times read.

Renewed cooperation between the US and Russia on Syria is more likely to bring the war to an end than the proposal of Barack Obama’s critics to use military force against Assad.

The proposal offered in June by 51 State Department personnel would increase US military presence in Syria but also could lead to a confrontation with Russian forces. The same outcome is possible if Washington tries to establish a no-fly zone over Syria, the article warned.

President Vladimir Putin meets with President of Syria Bashar al-Assad - Sputnik International
Western Governments May Be Holding Secret Talks With Assad - Ex-US Envoy
On June 6, the Kremlin reported that Putin called Obama to discuss Syria and develop cooperation between Russia and the US.

In late-June, The Washington Post reported that the White House offered Russia a deal to increase military cooperation against terrorist targets in Syria, in exchange for stopping airstrikes against pro-Western rebel forces.

The offer proposes to share targets and coordinate an extended bombing campaign against the al-Nusra Front militant group.

"This would be one of the biggest shifts in strategy since the start of the Syrian civil war. The risks of a wider clash with Russia would significantly diminish, and the rebel movement would be weakened. Most important, Moscow would have an opening to both secure its interests in Syria and break its geopolitical isolation," analysts of the American think-tank Stratfor commented on the proposed deal.

If Russia accepts the offer it could lead to broader cooperation between Moscow and Washington for the political transition in Syria, according to LA Times.

Five years ago, Obama insisted that Assad must go but US attempts to topple the Syrian president have failed. Now, Washington admits that the end of the fighting in Syria and defeating Daesh and al-Nusra Front are more important than Assad’s resignation, the article read.

"Frustrating as it may be, exploring the possibility of cooperation with Moscow in Syria is still preferable to trying to oust Assad through US military action," the article added.

Syrian volunteers and their relatives wave the national flag and portraits of President Bashar al-Assad as they celebrate at the end of a paramilitary training conducted by the Syrian army in al-Qtaifeh, 50 kms north of the capital Damascus on February 22, 2016 - Sputnik International
Washington's 'Objective in Syria Since War Began is to Remove Assad'
Former US ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst told Sputnik that the US should abandon its Assad must go rhetoric because if Assad resigns Islamic extremists will take power in Syria.

He also said he believed the US government had been "a little bit unrealistic" regarding the Assad regime, and Washington needed to adjust to acknowledge the Syrian government’s survival.

Herbst also noted that the United States and Russia had similar interests in Syria, and could cooperate.

"It may be possible to cooperate, but there is a very serious problem in this area, and that is, most of the Russian military activities are directed against not the Islamic extremists, but against the very weak forces that are supported by the United States," he claimed.

Russian jets at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria - Sputnik International
Russia, US Want to Cooperate in Syria But 'Are Suspicious of Each Other'
Jason Ditz of Antiwar.com wrote that the potential US military campaign in Syria could also escalate serious tensions between the US and Russia.

"Secretary of State John Kerry was leading the charge for a war against Assad years ago, only to have it foiled by Syria agreeing to the demand to destroy all their chemical weapons. At this point, with Russia deeply involved in the war, attacking Assad is all but impossible, meaning the State Department 'protest' is mostly meaningless, and simply puts those officials on the record as not being happy with the losing war they're already fighting," Ditz wrote.

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