Will The U.S. Take On The Russians To Take Out Assad?

American Thinker

By Shoshana Bryen

There are two reasons for the U.S. to seek the demise of Bashar Assad’s regime — for what it would mean to Syria and for what it would mean to Iran. The first is insufficient reason for the U.S. to involve itself directly. The second raises the elephant-in-the-room question: “Would the Obama administration act against the expressed interests of Putin’s Russia to achieve a victory against Iran in Syria?”

The administration currently takes the approach that a serious American strategic objective can be achieved without direct American military involvement. Arming the “good rebels” is supposed to oust Assad and provide later influence in Damascus. But while the CIA was looking for the good guys (we didn’t have a serious presence in the area until August), the administration was outsourcing the political conversation and the transfer of aid and weapons from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to increasingly openly Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Turkey. That gave the Sunni-related — and maybe al-Qaeda-related — jihadi rebels a head start. So now we have to assume that the “good rebels” can defeat the Assad government and the “bad rebels.”

It would be simpler to aim a cruise missile at Syrian military HQ or have a USAF jet drop something heavy on Assad’s palace. We did it in Libya, where the strategic interest was much, much less. Why not Syria?

Because for the Obama administration, Syria is as much about Russia and the relationship with Vladimir Putin as it is about Syria, Iran, and the Shi’ite Crescent. This would be a good time to note that Russia is steadfastly opposed to the removal of Assad and resistant to White House cajoling, threatening, and attempts to embarrass Putin. He doesn’t embarrass, and he hasn’t moved.

• On 1 June, ABC News reported that Mrs. Clinton warned of “catastrophic” possibilities in Syria. “My argument to the Russians is — they keep telling me they don’t want to see a civil war, and I have been telling them their policy is going to help contribute to a civil war.”

• Just two days later, she was asking the Russians for help. “My message to the foreign minister was very simple and straightforward … we all have to intensify our efforts to achieve a political transition and Russia has to be at the table helping that to occur.”

• On 30 June, in an interview on the State Department website, Mrs. Clinton boasts of having gotten Russia (and China) in line. “I believe [that the Syrians] are shocked that Russia and China have signed onto this agreement, which so clearly says goodbye to them in this transition.”

  Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/will_the_us_take_on_the_russians_to_take_out_assad.html#ixzz2AEAnd0h3