Wednesday, September 21, 2016

The USA hasn't learned it's lesson from Iraq. The rest of the world has.

The global community has to accept Assad as the legitimate leader of the Alawites. The Alawites are a unique ethnic group in Syria that have always lived there. 

September 20, 2016
By Jimmy Carter

The announcement (click here) this month of a new cease-fire agreement in Syria is good news. But a lack of trust among the Syrian belligerents and their foreign supporters means this agreement, like the one that came before it, is vulnerable to collapse.

It is already showing severe signs of strain. Over the weekend, the United States accidentally bombed Syrian government troops. On Monday, the Syrian military declared it would no longer respect the deal, resumed airstrikes on Aleppo, and even a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed.

Still, there is reason for hope. If Russia and the United States were willing to come far enough in their negotiations to reach this deal, these setbacks can be overcome. The targeting of the humanitarian convoy, a war crime, should serve as an added impetus for the United States and Russia to recommit to the cease-fire. The two parties were well aware of the difficulties as they spent a month negotiating the cease-fire’s terms.

The agreement can be salvaged if all sides unite, for now, around a simple and undeniably important goal: Stop the killing. It may be more likely than it sounds....

Stop the killing is a directive few people are interested in when it comes to Syria. An enforceable ceasefire ended because of the deaths of Syrian soldiers. The USA didn't honor the ceasefire it had agreed to.

Where was the failure of the ceasefire the USA was suppose to honor. Where in the US chain of command did someone decide it was okay to kill people in Syria? Who didn't get the memo?

The war in Iraq was a complete disaster. It created a faux government and military infrastructure. No one respects any aggressive actions by the USA anymore. There has been a change in the standing of the USA in the global community. The American press might exploit the bombing of a warehouse serving humanitarian needs, but, then it is not the entire truth, that is whitewashing of a truth that needs to be told.

In a ceasefire, "Oops," is a very big deal. During ceasefires, there is movement of military units and people and goods. All that movement is garnered by intelligence for the country and acted on when the ceasefire is over. "Oops" is a really lousy thing that ends the ceasefire before it was intended and all that movement is compromised at that very second. 

The USA killed Syrian soldiers. THAT is what needs to be contended with. Additionally, Assad saw the actions against his troops and retaliated. Now, a valuable warehouse of humanitarian aid, vehicles and people are gone. Why is the UN staging humanitarian anything, including precious lives, inside a war zone?

There are many questions that need answers and not just any populous answer; the truth would be preferable.