Sane US Voices Demand Obama Work with Putin on Syria

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A number of leading strategists from the US and Europe are pressing for the Obama Administration to work with Russia to solve the Syria crisis, now in its fourth year.

Graham Fuller, ex-CIA Middle East/North Africa official, published “The Russians are Coming!” on his blog Sept. 15, calling on the US to stop its obsession with containing Iran and Russia and accept the idea that Russia is on the ground in Syria and can play a constructive role in defeating ISIS.

“There are two major countries in the world at this point capable of exerting serious influence over Damascus—Russia and Iran. Not surprisingly, they possess that influence precisely because they both enjoy long-time good ties with Damascus; Assad obviously is far more likely to listen to tested allies than heed the plans of enemies dedicated to his overthrow.”

After reviewing how Russia bailed out Obama in 2013 by getting Syria to surrender its chemical weapons, Fuller says that

“even were Syria to become completely subservient to Russia, US general interests in the region would not seriously suffer… We are entering a new era in which the US is increasingly no longer able to call the shots in shaping the international order… Russia is probably better positioned than any other world player to exert influence over Assad.”

Fuller concludes: “Bottom line: Washington does not have the luxury of playing dog in the manger in ‘managing’ the Middle East, especially after two decades or more of massive and destructive policy failure on virtually all fronts.”

Carnegie Europe’s Judy Dempsey asked a number of experts whether the US should work with the Russians on Syria, and the overwhelming majority of specialists she polled said “yes.” While not every one of the think tankers asked to respond to her question were enthusiastic about a Washington-Moscow solution, with just one exception, they all concurred that Russia was in Syria, has deep ties to the Syrian government, and must be part of any viable solution.

Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasian Group, offered a pointed response:

“It’s time to accept that Russia will play a larger and lasting role in the Middle East. The U.S. president’s Syria policy is a failure… The United States Russian policy is worse. The U.S. administration stumbled into conflict with Russia over Ukraine, a country that matters much more to Moscow than to Washington, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is now proving that Russia is too big to isolate. Focus on the future. U.S. President Barack Obama’s primary Middle East commitment should be to destroy the Islamic State, the best-equipped, best-funded terrorist organization in history… Washington needs partners. NATO allies, Iran, Iraqi militias, and Russia all have good reason to want the Islamic State on its back. All will be needed.”

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