BEIRUT, Lebanon — Secretary of State
John Kerry was clearly exasperated, not least at his own government.
Over and over again, he
complained to a small group of Syrian civilians that his diplomacy had not been backed by a serious threat of military force, according to an
audio recording of the meeting
obtained by The New York Times.
“I think you’re looking at three people, four people in the administration who have all argued for use of force, and I lost the argument.”
The
40-minute discussion, on the sidelines of last week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, provides a glimpse of Mr. Kerry’s frustration with his inability to end the Syrian crisis. He veered between
voicing sympathy for the Syrians’ frustration with United States policy and trying to justify it.
The conversation took place days after a
brief cease-fire he had spearheaded
crumbled, and as his
Russian counterpart rejected outright his new proposal to stop the bombing of Aleppo. Those setbacks were followed by
days of crippling Russian and Syrian airstrikes in Aleppo that the
World Health Organization said Wednesday had killed 338 people, including 100 children.
At the meeting last week, Mr. Kerry was
trying to explain that the United States has no legal justification for attacking Mr. Assad’s government, whereas
Russia was invited in by the government.
“The problem is the Russians don’t care about international law, and we do.” [comment: USA capitalist broke international law by arming, training and supervising terrorists that are destroying Syria.]
Mr.
Kerry has been hamstrung by Russia’s military operations in Syria and by his
inability to persuade Washington to intervene more forcefully. He has also been
unable to sell Syrian opponents of Mr. Assad, like the ones in that room, on a
policy he does not wholeheartedly believe in.
His
frustrations and dissent within the Obama administration have hardly been a secret, but in the recorded conversation, Mr.
Kerry lamented being outmaneuvered by the Russians,
expressed disagreement with some of Mr. Obama’s policy decisions and
said Congress would never agree to use force.
“We’re trying to pursue the diplomacy, and I understand it’s frustrating. You have nobody more frustrated than we are.” [comment: let's see. US-Anglo & Gulf Arab, Israeli capitalism sends in goons to destroy Syria ... but now they're frustrated that their pretext of 'diplomacy' (ie demands Syria's Assad government surrender to capitalist sponsored terrorism) is not going as planned. the c%$ts.]
The
meeting took place at the Dutch Mission to the United Nations on Sept. 22. There were perhaps 20 people around a table: representatives of
four Syrian groups that provide education, rescue and medical services in
rebel-held areas;
diplomats from three or four countries; and Mr.
Kerry’s chief of staff and special envoy for Syria. The
recording was made by a non-Syrian attendee, and several other participants confirmed its authenticity.
John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, declined on Thursday evening to comment on what he described as a private conversation. He said that Mr. Kerry was “grateful for the chance to meet with this group of Syrians, to hear their concerns firsthand and to express our continued focus on ending this civil war.”
Several of the Syrian participants said afterward that they had
left the meeting demoralized, convinced that no further help would come from the Obama administration. One, a civil engineer named Mustafa Alsyofi, said Mr. Kerry had effectively told the Syrian opposition, “You have to fight for us, but we will not fight for you.”
[comment: LMAO, get out the violins for the 'demoralised' NGO shills who are paving the way for US capitalist destruction of Syria. Go f*ck yourselves, lying NYT propaganda organ and tape leaking company. F*ckholes. Do not fall for this sh*t. It is these assh*les that are responsible for all the dead, because they engineered, supplied, trained and funded the 'opposition' attack on the legitimate Syrian government. ]
“How can this be accepted by anyone?” Mr. Alsyofi asked. “It’s unbelievable."
In the meeting, he and the others pressed Mr. Kerry politely but relentlessly on what they saw as
contradictions in American policy. Their comments crystallized the
widespread sense of betrayal even among the Syrians most
attractive to Washington as potential partners, civilians pushing for pluralistic democracy.
[comment: the c*nts. These are US-Anglo capitalist shills being used to destroy an independent nation, for the US-Anglo-Israeli-Gulf Arab capitalists to exploit and control, by selling the lie of 'spreading democracy' to the public. The lying assh*les. ]
One woman, Marcell Shehwaro, demanded “the bottom line,” asking “how many Syrians” had to be killed to prompt serious action.
[comment: Marcell Shehwaro, STFU you idiot. Shehwaro should be asking John Kerry when he's getting his goons out of Syria the capitalist terrorist bastard. This US-Anglo Arab shill has got the nerve to seek 'serious action' as follow up to capitalist-sponsored goon attack on Syria, planned by Hillary Clinton since 2006. Go f*ck yourselves, you disgusting assh*les. ]
“What is the end of it? What he can do that would be the end of it?” [comment: when John Kerry's bosses quit sending hired proxy goons to attack Syria, you fool.]
Mr. Kerry responded that “Assad’s indifference to anything”
could push the administration to consider new options, adding, “There’s a different conversation taking place” since the intensified bombing of Aleppo and the further breakdown of talks with Russia.
[comment: basically, C*cksucker Kerry is saying that if the Assad government does not capitulate to take-over by US-Anglo & Co. capitalist proxy goons attacking Syria, USA will escalate it's attack since 2006 on Syria. The $#^t. ]
But he also
said any further American effort to arm rebels or join the fight could backfire.
“The problem is that, you know, you get, quote, enforcers in there and then everybody ups the ante, right? Russia puts in more, Iran puts in more; Hezbollah is there more and Nusra is more; and Saudi Arabia and Turkey put all their surrogate money in, and you all are destroyed.””
At another point, Mr.
Kerry spelled out in stark terms distinctions the United States was making between combatants, which have upset the Syrian opposition: The
United States wants the rebels to help it fight the Islamic State and Al Qaeda because, as he put it, “both have basically declared war on us.” But
Washington will not join the same rebels in fighting Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia allied with Mr. Assad, even though the United States lists Hezbollah as a terrorist group like the others.
[comment: USA lists anyone defending their own interests (and anyone exposing US capitalist criminality) as 'terrorist', so this means jack. Hezbollah are the good guys then. Why is US-Anglo capitalism turning on its Islamist partners? ISIS and probably al-Qaeda are also US-Anglo capitalist proxies, I think. Or at least Gulf Arab, which may as well be US-Anglo-Israelis, as they're on the same side. In this declared war, if it's not a ruse, I think I'd back al-Qaeda and maybe even Islamic State for a round against the capitalists. I don't want the capitalists to win. If the Islamist guys would just stop doing all the atrocities and chill out about the religion (maybe go atheist and socialist), they would be easy to support against capitalism. In their current state it is harder because they're dangerous. But I still kind of sympathise with them when they declare war on the capitalists. ]
“Hezbollah,” Mr. Kerry explained, “is not plotting against us.”
[comment: the bet is that the US State Dept and Middle Eastern friends are plotting against Hezbollah. Especially Israel. Look out, Hezbollah. ]
He also spoke of the obstacles he faces back home: a
Congress unwilling to authorize the use of force and a public tired of war.
[COMMENT: STAND BY FOR FALSE FLAGS AND MEDIA HYPE ABOUT THE DEAD ETC ... WHICH US-ANGLO CAPITALISM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR KILLING, AT THE END OF THE DAY. EVERYBODY THAT HAS BEEN KILLED IN SYRIA HAS BEEN KILLED BY: US-ANGLO-GULF-ARAB-ISRAELI BACKED ASSAULT ON THE ASSAD SYRIAN GOVERNMENT. ]
“A lot of Americans don’t believe that we should be fighting and sending young Americans over to die in another country.”
One of the Syrians in the room assured Mr. Kerry, “No one is requesting an invasion,” but he
insisted that the rebels needed more help.
As time ran short, Mr.
Kerry told the Syrians that their best hope was a political solution to bring the opposition into a transitional government. Then, he said, “you can have an election and let the people of Syria decide: Who do they want?”
[comment: No way. Nuke them Kim Jong-un. That's just bullsh*t. Proxies of US-Anglo-Gulf-Arab-Israeli-Capitalism who attacked Syria should NEVER be rewarded in any way for engineering terror and destruction. They should all be expelled immediately. ]
A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said later that Mr. Kerry was not indicating a shift in the administration’s view of Mr. Assad, only
reiterating a longstanding belief that he would be ousted in any fair election.
[comment: GTFOH & get the f*ck out of Syria, you capitalist bastards. US Oligarchy can't even provide a fair election on its own corrupt turf, where its entire political system is nothing but a fraud of capitalist controlled faux 'democracy' and they're calling for 'fair elections' in the land of the Syrians. Piss off, you bastards. ]
At one point, Mr. Kerry astonished the Syrians at the table when he
suggested that they should participate in elections that include President Bashar al-Assad, five years after President Obama demanded that he step down.
Mr. Kerry described the election saying it
would be set up by Western and regional powers, and the United Nations, “under the strictest standards.” He said that the millions of Syrians who have fled since the war began in 2011 would be able to participate.
[comment: that tells us that Syria's neighbours are bringing down Syria, along with Western capitalism and the stinking capitalist shill United Nations frauds. The lot of them should be told to f*ck off. They have no right to call elections in other people's nations. GTFO. ]
“Everybody who’s registered as a refugee anywhere in the world can vote. Are they going to vote for Assad? Assad’s scared of this happening.” [comment: f*ck off, capitalist infidel. LMAO ... EVERYBODY is registered as a 'Syrian refugee' all over the world (although the vast majority ARE FROM EVERY THIRD WORLD SH*THOLE ON THE PLANET but accepted as 'Syrian', because they've destroyed documents etc), because the WESTERN CAPITALIST DOGS DECLARED OPEN DOORS FOR 'SYRIAN REFUGEES' - THIS MUST BE THE REASON THEY DID IT. TO BRING DOWN ASSAD WITH THE FAKE ELECTION THING. THE C*NTS. ]
But the Syrians were skeptical that people living under government rule inside Syria would feel safe casting ballots against Mr. Assad, even with international observers — or that Russia would agree to elections if it could not ensure the outcome. And that is when the conversation reached an impasse, with Ms. Shehwaro, an educator and social media activist, recalling hopes for a more direct American role.
[comment: that's their medical supplies sales shill. What a f*cking joke this is. This nobody is calling for this and that? Yeah? And so what? Get the f*ck out of Syria, you bastards. Capitalists are PIGS. ]
COMMENT: WHAT NYT FAILS TO TELL ITS READERS
US-ANGLO CAPITALIST STATE PROPAGANDA & PUBLIC OPINION SHAPING STAGED BULLSH*T PLAYED OUT IN THE CAPITALIST OWNED LYING PROPAGANDA PRESS.
“So you think the only solution is for somebody to come in and get rid of Assad?” Mr. Kerry asked.
“Yes,” Ms. Shehwaro said.
“Who’s that going to be?” he asked. “Who’s going to do that?”
“Three years ago, I would say: You. But right now, I don’t know.”
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/09/30/world/middleeast/john-kerry-syria-audio.html?_r=2