By now, it’s no secret that Moscow has officially called an end to the US policy of utilizing Sunni extremists to destabilize the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
What began months ago with rumors of Russian troops operating alongside the Syrian Arab Army culminated on Wednesday with reports that Vladimir Putin will bomb ISIS positions to support Assad with or without the help of US forces. What that means is that if the US was indeed adopting a ‘containment strategy’ vis-a-vis ISIS (versus mounting a serious attempt to defeat Bakr al-Baghdadi’s army) in order to effectively ensure that Assad would be unable to stabilize the country, the game is now up, as Moscow is set to eliminate any and all threats to the regime.
That, along with the fact that Russia and Iran are now coordinating their military efforts in support of their mutual ally in Damascus, presents Washington with a serious problem. As we’ve detailed on a number of occasions, the US now must decide between admitting that ousting Assad (and thereby refusing Russia’s offer to join forces against ISIS) takes precedence over combatting terror or else relent and assist Moscow and Tehran with stabilizing the very regime the US and its regional allies have sought to remove for at least ten years.
Although admitting that the fight against ISIS is not America’s top priority is quite clearly not an option, allying with Russia and Iran is apparently so detestable a proposition that The White House will delay a decision for as long as absolutely possible in what’s likely an attempt to use diplomatic back channels to try and see if there’s another way out that allows Washington to save face.
With the pressure building, Obama is now set to meet directly with Putin next week following the Russian President’s speech to the UN General Assembly. As Reuters notes, both the US and Russia are keen on spinning the narrative in a way that pleases their respective electorates:
This post was published at Zero Hedge on 09/25/2015.
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