That's a quote from this article:
It continues to be my impression that nobody should be making assumptions about the Russian government's finalized game plan for Syria.
If it were me, which it isn't, I'd ask people to be contacting and talking to the Russian government every day about what has to be done to remove Mr. Assad from power. There has to be something to which the Russian government will respond positively in the discussion of that imperative.
Also, although I haven't said this before and President Putin won't like it, I don't think that the displaced Syrians can be returned or that Syria can be peacefully unified in the midst of a Russian occupation. Psychologically, it's too much to ask of people who are so devastated by the Russian government's involvement in this war.
When I started thinking about it a couple of weeks ago, at first it occurred to me that maybe Russia, Israel and Turkey could coordinate a temporary, tripartite government to provide some structure for a post-Assad Syria during its reconstruction. Since Syria was already a route for international smuggling of various types before its civil war, it is perhaps conveniently located for an international military/research base from which terrorism and other international crime can be thwarted and from which humanitarian missions, particularly concerning epidemics, can be launched. I was thinking that maybe Russia would agree to relinquishing control of Syria after its reconstruction and first free elections, if Russia could have a controlling interest in that hypothetical base.
However, after additional thought about it, I could not reconcile the idea of a permanent or dominant Russian presence in Syria that would not also be permanent trauma for the majority of Syrian citizens.
So, since Saudi Arabia has said that it will be providing money for Syria's reconstruction, I substituted Saudi Arabia for Russia in that idea.
Maybe it's also too much to ask that Israel be part of that structure, considering the painful history of Israel in the region.
I don't know if any of this is right, and I can't continue to write about it now because people are being asked to leave the shelter lobby for the evening. My other thought about it was that someone would need to talk to the Kurds about what they feel they would have to have and what they feel is peripheral for them, both from a temporary post-Assad structure and from a post-scaffold, free Syria.
