Discussion for article #242899
Obviously this meeting didn’t rise to the “stablemate” level of interaction Trump and Putin shared.
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Photoshop Donald Trump’s face over Obama’s and know the true meaning of horror.
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Absolutely. Real diplomacy only happens in a green room.
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I keep imagining, one after another, the clown-car list of faces of those R’s running in 2016 sitting where Obama is and want to cry.
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As long as Putin supports Assad, little will change or improve.
Hate him or love him he shines!
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Au contraire. Putin is ruthless but a master tactician. That’s why I am happy to see Obama took the opportunity to talk to him. Josh is right when he points out that the US approach is not working. We will need to work with Russia to get this fixed. Russia is the only country that could offer safe heaven to Assad and his family. Best chance to get him out of the picture is to let him retire there in luxury and wealth. But this can only happen after ISIL is defeated and an armistice is in place.
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believe it when I see it
And in two separate countries.
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Nothing appears to be working. Certainly not the Russian approach, probably not the US approach. There are two options, one is some form of negotiated peace, if that is even possible with ISIL and Assad. Or, continued fighting until one side “wins”, where “wins” probably means “crawls away to regroup and try again in five years.”
Not so. Bashir Assad is the re-elected Syrian President, so he does appeal to many Syrians; perhaps broadly, because a hallmark of the secular Baathist government with a father-son Assad President since the 1960s has been to protect the minority ethnic and religious communitys within Syria, resulting in little if any sectarian violence for half a century until now.
Whatever negotiated strategy to eradicate ISIL, end the remaining civil war among Syrians, then afterward reestablish a stable and acceptable government, Assad and especially the entire Baath Party are essential participants. Working with, not against, Putin is necessary to reach that end.
N.B.: Remember the consequences of wrecking the entire secular Baathist administrative infrastructure in Iraq in our zeal to help “rebels” like Chalabbi establish “better government” than Saddam provided.
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