Jim Jatras Discusses Russia-U.S. Syria Memorandum on RT International

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Sputnik News: Accusations of Weakness Fuel Obama’s Confusion on Syria

Former US diplomat and Senate adviser James George Jatras explained to Sputnik that the rifts in the White House over how to handle the Syrian crisis manifest in its incoherent approach to tackling the terrorist threat.

Conflicting advice is confusing the White House’s approach to the Syrian crisis, with some advisers in the US appearing to believe that opposition to Assad and Russia is more important than defeating terrorism, former US diplomat and Senate adviser James George Jatras told Sputnik on Thursday.
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Audio interview and transcript here.

Press TV: World powers cannot dictate to Syria: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst, in Washington, about a meeting between Russian, US, Saudi and Turkish diplomats to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What a turn of events the past 48 hours have been, I mean from the Vienna meeting that did not seem like much of a big deal, the few major turning points. Russia saying that now it is in deep coordination with the US, giving air power to the so-called Free Syrian Army which at this point it was understood that Russia did not differentiate between moderate or any other kind of terrorists and then almost immediately calling for parliamentary and presidential elections?

Jatras: That is right. And let’s not forget that President Putin himself has said that President Assad has approved Russian air support for Free Syrian Army or any other genuine Syrian moderates that are fighting against the Daesh. So this could be the opening for real political dialogue and a real political settlement.

At the same time however, it is clear that some of our so-called allies – notably the Saudis – are dumping more and more weapons into the war zone in the hopes of keeping the fires burning. I think the essential point is that outside powers cannot dictate the political arrangements within Syria. We need to have a dialogue and a political agreement among Syrians themselves.
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