October 23, 2013

Updates On War In Syria: KSA Feels Let Down By Big Daddy, OPCW Is Happy With Progress

An excerpt from, "Saudi Prince Turki Expresses 'Disappointment' With US Over Syria" by Andrew Parasiliti, Al Monitor, October 22, 2013:
Prince Turki Al-Faisal Al-Saud, chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and former director-general of the Kingdom’s General Intelligence Directorate, said on Tuesday, Oct. 22, ‘There is definitely, from a public opinion point of view in the Kingdom, a high level of disappointment in the US government’s dealings, not just with Palestine, but equally with Syria.”

Speaking with Al-Monitor after delivering the luncheon keynote address at the annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference of the National Council on US-Arab Relations, Prince Turki said the Syrian opposition “should not be treated the way that the US has treated them.”    
The mainline Syrian political opposition, the ones who think they can lead an entire country from the safety of Western hotels and conferences, deserves no respect. What do they contribute to the fight? Military victories? Political rationality? Spiritual authority? A viable vision for a post-Assad Syria? Nope. None of these things. They are not the political elite of Syria and will never be. They are basically useless, and Washington recognized this fact from the beginning of the conflict. Their only purpose is to serve as a tool for destruction like the Jihadist terrorists in the field. 

An excerpt from, "Syria deadline for chemical weapons destruction will be met, says OPCW" by Julian Borger, The Guardian, October 23, 2013:
The world's chemical weapons watchdog says it is confident that Syria will meet an important early milestone in its disarmament, the 1 November deadline for destroying all equipment used in the production and mixing of poison gases and nerve agents.

Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said the Syrian government had provided complete co-operation with the 27 weapons inspectors in the country.

Luhan said the inspectors had visited 18 of the 23 chemical weapons sites declared by Damascus, and that a complete, official, inventory of all Syria's chemical weapons, munitions, and production facilities, was expected to be delivered to the OPCW headquarters in the Hague in the next 24 hours.
Less chemical weapons in the world = good thing. This is a humanitarian, public opinion, and political success for all involved. The victory should be attributed to Putin and Assad as well as Obama. It was an all-around team effort.