To coordinate bombing efforts with Russia, Pres. Obama signed an agreement with Putin in October. Russian and American air forces then practiced joint operations in November.
This happened shortly after the US began de-funding and abandoning the Free Syrian Army, the rebel group which was characterized by the Obama Administration as being non-terrorist, even though one of these anti-Assad leaders, Adnan Hadad, recently admitted to working hand in hand with Al Qaeda in Syria.
Since Russia is now ruthlessly terrorizing the people of Syria and bombing FSA territories, killing thousands of civilians, Hadad also confessed that the war “has no meaning” now.
Meanwhile, both the Obama Administration and Germany are now screaming about the “horrifying” atrocities committed by Russia in their relentless bombing of civilians and apparent military targets.
They do not mention that both the United States and the EU knew what the devil Putin was when they agreed to work with him in bombing Syria. Of course, both the US and EU will continue working with Russia in their assaults on “targets” (people and places) in Syria; their public hand-wringing, for those of us in the know, is especially obscene.
If Obama/Merkel wanted to stop Russian bombing in Syria, they could simply coordinate a ban on purchases of Russian oil and natural gas. The Russian economy would disintegrate.
One question now is, to what extent is the U.S. military still coordinating with Russia in bombing campaigns in Syria?
One major aspect of this cooperation has to do with carving up Syrian airspace so that Russian jets and allied jets and allied cruise missiles do not get too close to each other. It is no coincidence that Turkey is the only nation that has had any run-ins with the Russians.
Obama certainly still honors this most important aspect of his agreement with Putin.
Another question is, does the United States share intelligence with the Russians? Of course, this makes things easier for the Russians, but it is not necessary. The Russians are not worried if they drop a few extra bombs on homes, schools, and makeshift hospitals.
Thirdly, would the Americans dare to even slow down the Russians at this point? Would the Americans encroach on what is now “Russian airspace” in Syria after the US had ceded that territory to Russia?
When one makes a deal with the devil, what does that make one? The devil’s advocate? Did Obama have a devil’s advocate when he made this deal? Is he that naive or has he now abandoned the FSA in favor of Russian realpolitik?
He may have believed that the Russians would help him bomb ISIL, but Putin is not an idiot. He will not bomb ISIL until after he has gotten what he wants: reconquest of FSA-held Syria on behalf of the Assad regime, with that regime now squarely in the palms of Putin’s bloody hands.
And when that happens, Obama will leave the rest to the next president, just as Bush left Iraq to Obama. And the wars in the Muslim world continue to spread, deepen, and rewrite the already incoherent foreign policies of our originally well-meaning presidents.
None of it will matter, politically. As long as there are no “boots on the ground,” the American public generally does not care about Syrian civilians in Syria.
Please don’t be the “general public.” Give to the World Food Programme to help feed starving Syrians.