There have been reports now for weeks that the US and Russia are close to an agreement in Syria that would give the Kremlin what they have been dreaming of–joint operations with the United States in combatting the Islamic State in the Middle East. This type of deal would place Russia as the premier player in the Middle East and cement the loss of American prestige and power among allies and adversaries alike. It would legitimize Russia’s agenda. The Assad regime would stay in power. In short, Russia has traded the Assad regime’s indiscriminate bombing of its own people for the keys to the Levant and the Fertile crescent. Putin must have read The Art of the Deal.
“The deal would mean that the U.S. and Russia would coordinate airstrikes against ISIS and al Qaeda-linked terrorists. Under the potential deal, Assad’s own air force would be grounded, meaning no more bombings or chemical attacks on civilians and U.S.-backed rebels. In turn, food and medical aid deliveries would be allowed in to besieged cities like Aleppo, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped due to the joint assaults by Syrian and Russian forces,” reports CBS News.
