08-22-2018, 10:53 PM
*** 23-Aug-18 World View -- Russia demands that US and EU pay to rebuild Syria
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Russia demands that US and EU pay to rebuild Syria
****
![[Image: g180822b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180822b.jpg)
Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin are demanding that the West pay $250 billion to rebuild Syria (Getty)
Ever since the "Arab Spring" began in 2011, Bashar al-Assad, the
Shia/Alawite president of Syria, has used peaceful demonstrations as
an excuse to use missiles and barrel bombs, including Sarin gas and
chlorine gas, to kill his hated Sunni enemies, and to destroy their
homes, markets and schools. In 2015, Russia's president Vladimir
Putin joined in with his "Grozny strategy," where warplanes attack
hospitals, schools and markets with the objective of creating millions
of refugees, who can then be attacked while they're out in the open.
Between the two of them, al-Assad and Putin have destroyed and
flattened villages and cities, and has forced millions of innocent
Syrian civilians to flee the violence into Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq,
Turkey and Europe.
Now Vladimir Putin is demanding that Europe and the US should pay
billions of dollars to rebuild Syria, and to repair all the
destruction that Putin and al-Assad caused. Putin combines his demand
with a threat: If you don't pay to rebuild Syria, then those millions
of refugees that fled to Europe will never go home.
There are six million internally displaced refugees in Syria, and five
million that have fled to other countries, with 3.5 million in Turkey,
almost one million in Lebanon, another million in Iraq and Jordan, and
over a million in Europe. Estimates are that it will cost $250
billion to rebuild Syria.
Lebanon is strongly in favor of the policy of allowing the West to pay
for rebuilding Syria, so that the million or so refugees in Lebanon
will leave Lebanon and return home.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Monday thanked Russia “for
putting forward an initiative aimed at resolving the refugee issue,”
and said Lebanon wants "quick, gradual, safe return of displaced
Syrians that is in no way linked to a political solution."
Bassil just wants the EU and US to pour the money in, without
demanding a "political solution" in return. The "political solution"
would be a process that removes Bashar al-Assad from power. What's
the point in rebuilding Syria, if some group is just going to start
peacefully protesting, and that will cause al-Assad to destroy Syria
all over again?
In fact, Russia is accusing the United States of holding up the
process of rebuilding Syria. Russia would get agreement from the US.
According to the US State Department, the United States and other
countries would not contribute to Syria’s full reconstruction until
there was a “credible and irreversible” political process underway to
end the conflict.
However, the State Department has also said that it has reached
agreement that other countries would provide $300 million to begin
rebuilding Syria, including a $100 million commitment from Saudi
Arabia. The National (UAE) and Reuters and Washington Post
****
**** Putin pressures Germany's Angela Merkel to fund rebuilding Syria
****
Vladimir Putin has been particularly applying pressure to Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel has suffered considerable backlash
from her 2015 decision to allow over a million Syria refugees to
arrive in Germany. Merkel's political position would presumably be
helped if many of these refugees could return to Syria.
Last weekend, Vladimir Putin met with Angela Merkel in her elegant
retreat at Meseberg Palace north of Berlin.
Saying that the population of refugees is "potentially a huge burden
for Europe," he said:
<QUOTE>"We need to strengthen the humanitarian effort in the
Syrian conflict. By that, I mean above all humanitarian aid to
the Syrian people, and help the regions where refugees living
abroad can return to. I think it’s in everyone’s interests,
including Europe’s."<END QUOTE>
Unsurprisingly, Merkel made no commitment to aid, but reiterated the
need for constitutional reforms that would be opposed by al-Assad and
elections in Syria. Merkel said the priority in Syria was "to avoid a
humanitarian catastrophe," particularly in the Idlib region, which is
held by rebel groups and militants. AFP and iNews (UK) and Middle East Eye
****
**** Bolton says that Iran must withdraw from Syria
****
US national security advisor John Bolton is demanding that Iran be
compelled to withdraw from Syria before any negotiations on rebuilding
Syria can take place, but that Putin on Wednesday said that Russia
cannot compel Iran to leave.
Bolton also said that Putin is "stuck" in Syria, and wants to get out:
<QUOTE>"But he also told us that his interest and Iran’s were
not exactly the same. So we’re obviously going to talk to him
about what role they can play.
We’re going see what we and others can agree in terms of resolving
the conflict in Syria. But the one prerequisite there is the
withdrawal of all Iranian forces back in Iran.
[The] Russians are stuck there at the moment. And I don’t think
they want to be stuck there. I think their frenetic diplomatic
activity in Europe indicates that they’d like to find somebody
else, for example, to bear the cost of reconstructing Syria -
which they may or may not succeed in doing."<END QUOTE>
Russia and al-Assad have been announcing, and sending out their trolls
to say that the war in Syria is now pretty much over, after the
reconquest of Daraa in southern Syria. However, nobody serious
believes that, since Idlib province still has some 2.5 million
civilians, and is still controlled by thousands of anti-Assad rebels,
including both "moderate" rebels and militants in al-Qaeda linked
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
In each of al-Assad's previous targets, including Aleppo, Ghouta and
Daraa, Putin's "Grozny strategy" was used. One particularly effective
technique was to drop barrel bombs filled with metals, explosives, and
chlorine gas. The metals would kill as many people as possible, and
the chlorine gas, which is heavier than air, would fall into basements
and bunkers where women and children were hiding. Once they were
forced out into the open, additional barrel bombs and missiles or
Sarin gas could kill the women an children en masse.
In each of these regions, al-Assad and Putin were forced by
international pressure to permit civilians and rebels to leave the
region on buses and travel to Idlib. In this way, the horrific
slaughter in those regions was brought to an end though a kind of
negotiated settlement.
Hundreds of thousands of people who fled to Idlib are trapped there,
just south of the border with Turkey. Al-Assad has vowed to recapture
Idlib in the same way as Aleppo and the others, and this certainly
means the same kinds of attacks with barrel bombs, missiles, chlorine
gas and Sarin gas.
But as analysts have been saying, "There is no Idlib for Idlib." This
means that the al-Assad will have to kill most of the 2.5 million
people living there, since they'll have nowhere to go. This would be
a major new humanitarian crisis of gargantuan proportions. In some
scenarios, Turkey might open the border and allow the refugees to flow
through Turkey into Europe, creating a new European refugee crisis.
This is what Angela Merkel, quoted above, meant when she said that the
priority in Syria was "to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe."
It's well to remember, as we've been reporting for years, that Bashar
al-Assad is a sociopathic monster, the worst war criminal so far this
century, comparable to Stalin, Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot from the last
century. Whatever fantasy Vladimir Putin is having to end the war and
rebuild Syria, al-Assad will not end the war until either he's forced
to or until he's slaughtered most of the millions of people in Idlib.
Reuters and Washington Examiner and The National (UAE)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Bashar al-Assad,
Russia, Vladimir Putin, Grozny strategy,
Lebanon, Gebran Bassil, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia,
Germany, Angela Merkel, Idlib province,
John Bolton, Iran, Aleppo, Ghouta, Daraa,
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, Grozny strategy,
chlorine gas, Sarin gas
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Russia demands that US and EU pay to rebuild Syria
- Putin pressures Germany's Angela Merkel to fund rebuilding Syria
- Bolton says that Iran must withdraw from Syria
****
**** Russia demands that US and EU pay to rebuild Syria
****
Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin are demanding that the West pay $250 billion to rebuild Syria (Getty)
Ever since the "Arab Spring" began in 2011, Bashar al-Assad, the
Shia/Alawite president of Syria, has used peaceful demonstrations as
an excuse to use missiles and barrel bombs, including Sarin gas and
chlorine gas, to kill his hated Sunni enemies, and to destroy their
homes, markets and schools. In 2015, Russia's president Vladimir
Putin joined in with his "Grozny strategy," where warplanes attack
hospitals, schools and markets with the objective of creating millions
of refugees, who can then be attacked while they're out in the open.
Between the two of them, al-Assad and Putin have destroyed and
flattened villages and cities, and has forced millions of innocent
Syrian civilians to flee the violence into Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq,
Turkey and Europe.
Now Vladimir Putin is demanding that Europe and the US should pay
billions of dollars to rebuild Syria, and to repair all the
destruction that Putin and al-Assad caused. Putin combines his demand
with a threat: If you don't pay to rebuild Syria, then those millions
of refugees that fled to Europe will never go home.
There are six million internally displaced refugees in Syria, and five
million that have fled to other countries, with 3.5 million in Turkey,
almost one million in Lebanon, another million in Iraq and Jordan, and
over a million in Europe. Estimates are that it will cost $250
billion to rebuild Syria.
Lebanon is strongly in favor of the policy of allowing the West to pay
for rebuilding Syria, so that the million or so refugees in Lebanon
will leave Lebanon and return home.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Monday thanked Russia “for
putting forward an initiative aimed at resolving the refugee issue,”
and said Lebanon wants "quick, gradual, safe return of displaced
Syrians that is in no way linked to a political solution."
Bassil just wants the EU and US to pour the money in, without
demanding a "political solution" in return. The "political solution"
would be a process that removes Bashar al-Assad from power. What's
the point in rebuilding Syria, if some group is just going to start
peacefully protesting, and that will cause al-Assad to destroy Syria
all over again?
In fact, Russia is accusing the United States of holding up the
process of rebuilding Syria. Russia would get agreement from the US.
According to the US State Department, the United States and other
countries would not contribute to Syria’s full reconstruction until
there was a “credible and irreversible” political process underway to
end the conflict.
However, the State Department has also said that it has reached
agreement that other countries would provide $300 million to begin
rebuilding Syria, including a $100 million commitment from Saudi
Arabia. The National (UAE) and Reuters and Washington Post
****
**** Putin pressures Germany's Angela Merkel to fund rebuilding Syria
****
Vladimir Putin has been particularly applying pressure to Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel has suffered considerable backlash
from her 2015 decision to allow over a million Syria refugees to
arrive in Germany. Merkel's political position would presumably be
helped if many of these refugees could return to Syria.
Last weekend, Vladimir Putin met with Angela Merkel in her elegant
retreat at Meseberg Palace north of Berlin.
Saying that the population of refugees is "potentially a huge burden
for Europe," he said:
<QUOTE>"We need to strengthen the humanitarian effort in the
Syrian conflict. By that, I mean above all humanitarian aid to
the Syrian people, and help the regions where refugees living
abroad can return to. I think it’s in everyone’s interests,
including Europe’s."<END QUOTE>
Unsurprisingly, Merkel made no commitment to aid, but reiterated the
need for constitutional reforms that would be opposed by al-Assad and
elections in Syria. Merkel said the priority in Syria was "to avoid a
humanitarian catastrophe," particularly in the Idlib region, which is
held by rebel groups and militants. AFP and iNews (UK) and Middle East Eye
****
**** Bolton says that Iran must withdraw from Syria
****
US national security advisor John Bolton is demanding that Iran be
compelled to withdraw from Syria before any negotiations on rebuilding
Syria can take place, but that Putin on Wednesday said that Russia
cannot compel Iran to leave.
Bolton also said that Putin is "stuck" in Syria, and wants to get out:
<QUOTE>"But he also told us that his interest and Iran’s were
not exactly the same. So we’re obviously going to talk to him
about what role they can play.
We’re going see what we and others can agree in terms of resolving
the conflict in Syria. But the one prerequisite there is the
withdrawal of all Iranian forces back in Iran.
[The] Russians are stuck there at the moment. And I don’t think
they want to be stuck there. I think their frenetic diplomatic
activity in Europe indicates that they’d like to find somebody
else, for example, to bear the cost of reconstructing Syria -
which they may or may not succeed in doing."<END QUOTE>
Russia and al-Assad have been announcing, and sending out their trolls
to say that the war in Syria is now pretty much over, after the
reconquest of Daraa in southern Syria. However, nobody serious
believes that, since Idlib province still has some 2.5 million
civilians, and is still controlled by thousands of anti-Assad rebels,
including both "moderate" rebels and militants in al-Qaeda linked
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
In each of al-Assad's previous targets, including Aleppo, Ghouta and
Daraa, Putin's "Grozny strategy" was used. One particularly effective
technique was to drop barrel bombs filled with metals, explosives, and
chlorine gas. The metals would kill as many people as possible, and
the chlorine gas, which is heavier than air, would fall into basements
and bunkers where women and children were hiding. Once they were
forced out into the open, additional barrel bombs and missiles or
Sarin gas could kill the women an children en masse.
In each of these regions, al-Assad and Putin were forced by
international pressure to permit civilians and rebels to leave the
region on buses and travel to Idlib. In this way, the horrific
slaughter in those regions was brought to an end though a kind of
negotiated settlement.
Hundreds of thousands of people who fled to Idlib are trapped there,
just south of the border with Turkey. Al-Assad has vowed to recapture
Idlib in the same way as Aleppo and the others, and this certainly
means the same kinds of attacks with barrel bombs, missiles, chlorine
gas and Sarin gas.
But as analysts have been saying, "There is no Idlib for Idlib." This
means that the al-Assad will have to kill most of the 2.5 million
people living there, since they'll have nowhere to go. This would be
a major new humanitarian crisis of gargantuan proportions. In some
scenarios, Turkey might open the border and allow the refugees to flow
through Turkey into Europe, creating a new European refugee crisis.
This is what Angela Merkel, quoted above, meant when she said that the
priority in Syria was "to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe."
It's well to remember, as we've been reporting for years, that Bashar
al-Assad is a sociopathic monster, the worst war criminal so far this
century, comparable to Stalin, Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot from the last
century. Whatever fantasy Vladimir Putin is having to end the war and
rebuild Syria, al-Assad will not end the war until either he's forced
to or until he's slaughtered most of the millions of people in Idlib.
Reuters and Washington Examiner and The National (UAE)
Related Articles
- Bashar al-Assad declares victory in southern Syria as opponents are bused out (22-Jul-2018)
- US increasingly expresses total disgust with Syria regime for Bashar al-Assad's atrocities (21-Sep-2016)
- Western leaders sickened by Assad's 'industrial strength' torture in Syria (22-Jan-2014)
- Syria's Bashar al-Assad targets civilians and hospitals in never-ending war of extermination (07-Jan-2018)
- Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin hug and declare the end of war in Syria (27-Nov-2017)
- Russia uses the 'Grozny Model' to pursue mass slaughter in Aleppo Syria (02-Aug-2016)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Bashar al-Assad,
Russia, Vladimir Putin, Grozny strategy,
Lebanon, Gebran Bassil, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia,
Germany, Angela Merkel, Idlib province,
John Bolton, Iran, Aleppo, Ghouta, Daraa,
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, Grozny strategy,
chlorine gas, Sarin gas
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
