January 29, 2016

UN Syria Peace Talks Have Already Failed

Death to the United Nations. Death to Turkey. Death to Saudi Arabia. Death to Qatar. Death to ISIS. Death to Geneva III Talks.

An excerpt from, "Syria talks: Geneva negotiations in disarray as UN 'can't give a who, where or when'" by Laura Pitel, The Independent, January 29, 2016:
Hours before the biggest push to end the bloody Syrian conflict in two years was due to begin, confusion reigned supreme. The United Nations spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, insisted at a press briefing in Geneva that the peace talks would get under way, but admitted: “I can’t give you a time, I can’t give you a who, where, when.”
An excerpt from, "Syrian Peace Will Be Decided on the Battlefield, Not in Vienna" by Tony Cartalucci, Land Destroyer Report, January 22, 2016:
The West seeks a "political transition" in addition to fighting the self-proclaimed "Islamic State," implying that indeed, just as it had sought since 2011 and even beforehand, the West still expects current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, and a client regime more to the West's liking installed in his place.

And while the West, as part of the "peace deal" claims to seek the end of the Islamic State, it makes no mention of the states sponsoring its existence, which coincidentally includes the West itself.

Syria seeks the eradication of all armed groups, even those the West still attempts to claim are not linked to Al Qaeda. It has agreed to elections, confident the Syrian people will return President Assad to power again, just as they did in 2014. Knowing that President Assad would easily win any election held in the future, the West has been adamant about removing him from the process to even the odds in favor of candidates they back, thus undermining the very premise that the uprising had anything to do with "democracy" or heeding the will of the Syrian people in the first place.
An excerpt from, "Under pressure from Turkey, UN excludes PYD from Syria talks" by Cengiz Çandar, Al Monitor, January 29, 2016: 
It is obvious that Ankara won the “diplomatic battle” waged behind the curtains — not only against the PYD, but in a way, also against the United States.

“Boycotting Geneva” has become a very effective blackmail. Somebody asked me, “What if Ankara would not be included in Geneva?”

“The boycott does not mean Ankara would not be attending,” I responded. “It means the High Negotiation Committee, the Syrian opposition supported by Turkey, Saudis and Qataris, would not be in Geneva. That means there would not be a Geneva III.”

The Geneva diplomatic farce has certainly been a win for Ankara. But at what price? The answer will come in the aftermath of Geneva III.