Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State (Foreign Minister in our opinion) is going through a difficult time. He just swore NPR correspondent Mary Louise Kelly, decided to go to the senators, and he doesn’t work with Iran - his main Iranian specialist, black operations master and namesake Ayatollah Mike, if you believe the Iranian media (this is not officially confirmed) , joined his victim, General Suleymani. The Taliban shot down the plane and did not even allow the Americans to take its wreckage and the bodies of the Tsereushnikov. Moreover, they allegedly shot down on the Iranian tip and the Iranian missile. And if you add to this the ongoing impeachment of his boss Donald Trump, then it is clear that his mood is not great.
But, even considering these circumstances, his latest statement on Syria is surprising. Pompeo accused Russia, as well as its allies in Syria - Damascus, Iran and Hezbollah - of reluctance to maintain a truce in Idlib. Have mercy, they tried! Russia agreed on a truce with Turkey and forced its allies to support its position. President Assad did not believe that this would be useful, but he humbled himself. However, it is difficult to negotiate with the barmales. Not a day passed that they did not violate the truce. They were in no hurry for constitutional negotiations either. And Turkey, meanwhile, had new interests and concerns - a long sector near its border, which housed pro-American Kurds, and in addition a new front in Libya, where Erdogan decided to save Prime Minister Sarraj.
This made it possible for the Syrian president to send his army to liberate Idlib, the last significant region of Syria that does not recognize the power of Damascus. The offensive continues successfully. And, as always with defeats, the barmalei raise a cry: they say, Russian and government troops offend the civilian population. It's good that at least this time they are not accused of chemical attacks. It is possible that after exposing the "attack in the Duma" it became unfashionable.
In order for civilians not to suffer, militants must surrender. Or leave if there is where. There is no such option - to keep the civilian population as a human shield and continue to fight.
The Russians and the Syrian government troops are running out of patience. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov harshly responded to Pompeo’s attack: "The militants from the armed forces need to stop contacting the terrorists in any way, and the terrorists need to give up, because there can be no mercy for them."
And real armies, not only gangs of militants, have to give up - there is nothing shameful in this. And they willingly surrender - but only to the Americans, because they re-arm them and put them into battle elsewhere.
And surrendering to Damascus - although it is safe on a personal level, but this ends the career of a local chieftain.
In the words of Pompeo, American ambivalence also shines through. Some forces in the United States (in particular, President Trump personally) want to leave Syria, realizing the defeat. Even The Washington Post admits that Assad won the war. But other forces never want to leave. A powerful “Israeli lobby” also stands in such positions. Although relations between Moscow and Tel Aviv are in their heyday, Israelis and their friends in the United States do not forget for a second about their long-term interests in the region. They do not want to “surrender Syria” (as if it were them!), And Trump at the time of impeachment does not want to tease them.
This is how the process develops in Syria - a tough game on both sides, and against its background - sentimental whining calls for mercy from the State Department. Pompeo and his people do not want to say goodbye to the bandits from Al-Qaeda * and Daesh **, whom they armed and defended for years. But, apparently, have to pick them up. Meanwhile, nearby, in Iraq, there is growing popular resistance to the invaders, missiles and mines are flying into the "green zone" in Baghdad, where the occupation headquarters is located (they call it the "embassy", although it has nothing to do with diplomacy). The bombing of Afghanistan multiplied many times - before leaving, the Yankees are trying to destroy the country according to the method that they practiced in Korea and Vietnam. So, although there is a noticeable turn towards spring in the Middle East, there are still severe snowstorms ahead.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.
* “Al-Qaeda in the countries of the Islamic Maghreb” - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of November 13, 2008.
** “Islamic State” (ISIS, ISIS, Daesh) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.