No role for Assad in Syria's future: Tillerson

GENEVA (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad and his family have no role in the future of Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday ahead of peace talks aiming at a political transition scheduled to resume next month.

www.reuters.com...

Wow is Tellerson huffing paint before the press conferences? . Forgive me since I'm not on the ground in Syria, but has Assad been deposed or is this simply some sort of twitter fantasy playing out.

First off Russia will have no part of it......

Second the cease fire as noted in the article has allowed Assad to consolidate his forces and he dug in more than ever. Trump said during the election that Assads departure was not a prerequisite .....

cue the Benny Hill music IMHO. We have no plan, no focus, no goal. This is not a dig at trump per say rather a dig at 40 years of failed policy. Dont get me wrong Assad needs to go but sheesh we need a better plan than idle words

The MIC is losing the war. Maybe the never ending war machine will soon lose the hearts and minds of the American people as well.

They are getting desperate and will show their true colors in glorious fashion. They don't even know the damage they are doing by pressing this narrative. Isn't it about time for them to start badmouthing Iran/Iraq again?

I wonder, do we have the stomach to just defend our borders and stop invading the rest of the world?

Time to take ourselves off of the chess board so we can no longer be used.

a reply to: FredT

I favor our current administration, but can we just quit with the regime change? A dictator is preferable to terrorists running rampant.

a reply to: FredT

Honestly who cares what the Syrians do now after we have destroyed their country? At Least Assad is a know entity. Better than heart eating Freedom Fighters or ISIS Neanderthals.

Like it or not, Assad is probably Syria's best chance for stability.

a reply to: FredT

Forgive me since I'm not on the ground in Syria, but has Assad been deposed or is this simply some sort of twitter fantasy playing out.

There goes Tillerson's poker face. He's revealed his cards and his tells! And, I think you're right, Russia won't like it, unless they get to pick who the new leader is.

Assad will be president long after Tillerson is no longer secretary. Assad can still run for 1 more term in 2021.

When has this jackass U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson become a Syrian citizen

And what has he got to say anyway, when Trump wont even let him take out the garbage

originally posted by: burnsE
Assad will be president long after Tillerson is no longer secretary. Assad can still run for 1 more term in 2021.

HAHAHAHAHA had to clean scotch off my iMac... Assad will be there UNTIL someone assassinates him from his inner circle.

originally posted by: ksiezyc
a reply to: FredT

I favor our current administration, but can we just quit with the regime change? A dictator is preferable to terrorists running rampant.

Thats what people don't get. Who runs the country when he is gone? ISIS?

Look what happened when we took out Saddam.... everything came unraveled, all the tribes went ape warring each other and us. A bad tactical move. It might just do likewise with Assad gone. Seems the Brits were the only ones that could keep the peace back in the day, post war...

originally posted by: ksiezyc
a reply to: FredT

I favor our current administration, but can we just quit with the regime change? A dictator is preferable to terrorists running rampant.

Exactly. I am so tired of these regime change wars.

I dont care if I did vote for Trump, I am against this.

Tillerson's claims about the ME should always be taken with a grain of salt (or sand ... as it often jams the clockwork mechanism of US imperialist ambitions) :

Tillerson: Time for Iranian-backed militias to leave Iraq

Hey Rex ! Iraq is the country of the Iraqis ... what do they think about it ?

Iraq dismisses U.S. call for Iranian-backed militias to 'go home'

The yankees shouting 'Go home' ... what an irony.

About Assad, the Syrians held elections in 2016.

originally posted by: Grambler

originally posted by: ksiezyc
a reply to: FredT

I favor our current administration, but can we just quit with the regime change? A dictator is preferable to terrorists running rampant.

Exactly. I am so tired of these regime change wars.

I dont care if I did vote for Trump, I am against this.

Nothing changes though, it makes no difference which 👄 piece runs the country, the wars continue there is always a bad guy that needs to be killed and people that need to be saved.

One of the problems seems to be the lack of consistency among the voting public. How many here were for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan but are now opposed to the invasion of Syria?

You are not absolved because you voted for Trump but not for continuing war.

a reply to: FredT

Dont get me wrong Assad needs to go but sheesh we need a better plan than idle words

I'll disagree, a country built on blood that constantly murders other countries through destruction and death in the name of greed?

The U.S. needs to go

Just setting out the negotiating position.

Assad will stay as the regime change effort is at this point a ruinous blood soaked failure. This is about getting something else in return for conceding it.

The Syrians know full well who has been funding and pushing the jihadis against them. Another implacable enemy of the west created.

The US is never going to commit troops to occupying Syria, everyone knows this, and their efforts to support proxy fighters are failing. Frankly, I don't think Tillerson or any US official is going to have much choice about Assad staying in power.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Pentagon Furious After Turkey Leaks U.S. Base Locations In Syria



Original Turkish article

a reply to: theultimatebelgianjoke
That's a good point. Iraq is nominally still our ally, but they really don't care anymore what the US says or thinks about anything. The decision to reclaim Kurdish lands is only the latest example of this. They're increasingly pivoting towards Iran (which makes demographic sense; a majority of Iraqis are Shiites).

originally posted by: theultimatebelgianjoke
a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Pentagon Furious After Turkey Leaks U.S. Base Locations In Syria

Original Turkish article

Yeah, they have a handful of bases in the Kurdish areas. But do you think Trump or any other president is going to commit the tens of thousands of troops that would be needed to overthrow Assad? No way.

As it is, I'm pretty sure the Syrian Kurds will end up reconciling with Assad, probably in exchange for a limited form of autonomy. All through this war, the Syrian army and the Kurds have had little interest in fighting each other. Both mostly fight ISIS and the rebels, with only a few minor skirmishes between them. I expect that once the fighting is over, the US special forces troops will be "encouraged" to pack up their crap and go home.