Kerry in Vienna for critical international diplomatic meeting on Syrian civil war

The Al-Baath editorial also said prospects of progress in the second round of talks on Syria’s crisis, due this weekend in Vienna, are dim because of the previous round’s failure to clearly define which groups constitute the moderate opposition.

And two weeks ago, former President Jimmy Carter – certainly no fan of Assad’s – penned a nuanced op-ed in The NY Times, in which he called for multilateral peace talks while leaving open the possibility of Assad’s remaining in power, pending an eventual transition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on Russia’s space program in the Bocharov Ruchei residence outside the Black Sea resort of in Sochi, Russia, Thursday, November 12, 2015. Carly Fiorina insisted that, “We must have a no-fly zone in Syria because Russian Federation can not tell the United States of America where and when to fly our planes”. The point is to show that America still runs the Middle East. Thus, the fact that Russian Federation is now bombing Syria is not a reason to stay out; it’s a reason to go in.

Syrian government forces – with the help of Russian air and Iranians man power – broke through the ISIS siege of the strategic Kweiris air base this week.

“The truth is that nothing would do more to bolster the fight against the terrorists than a broadly supported diplomatic process that would begin to de-escalate the conflict, and that would give the Syrian people a real choice – not between Assad and Daesh – but between the status quo and something”, Kerry said, using another name for ISIS. Noticeably absent, however, will be anyone from the Bashar al-Assad regime or the Syrian opposition groups. And in part because of that weakness, a few have forged alliances with jihadist groups that, while not ISIS, are at least as hostile to liberal democracy and to the United States as Bashar al-Assad is.

But that is easier said than done.

Maria Zakharova told the weekly ministry press conference yesterday that the future of the Syrian president is not the first step to resolving the Syrian issue.

– Postponing parliamentary elections planned for spring 2016 and scheduling them to be held simultaneously with presidential elections on the basis of the new constitution.

A Western diplomat said the Russian document appeared to be “a trial balloon” to test global reaction, and also to calm any uneasiness among Assad’s entourage.

The statement did not make clear how those groups would be chosen, but said they should follow principles such as committing to Syria’s “non-sectarian character” and keeping state institutions intact.

Allies of the Syrian government recognized the legitimacy of the election, and the fighting worsened.

Kerry suggested radicals were drawn to the country in their fight against Assad, a view Lavrov disputed. The stated aim was hitting at Islamic State extremists, but the airstrikes have improved the position of Assad’s forces, who have gone on the offensive in a few areas.

“Make no mistake that resolve has only grown stronger in the wake of this unspeakable brutality”, Kerry said of the attacks in Paris which were claimed by the Islamic State group operating out of Iraq and Syria.

Iran, too, remains a wild card. It is unclear how far Tehran, which has pumped billions of dollars into supporting Assad, would compromise following its nuclear deal with the West. The US says these are two sides of the same coin.

“Unlike diplomats meeting in Vienna and Geneva, Syrians have seen firsthand how the Syrian government operates and how it manages elections”, Ford wrote in an article published by the think tank this week. And any strategy the Obama administration adopts to try to hasten an end to the conflict, experts say, will be futile as long as Assad’s crimes – which, in turn, fuel ISIS’s propaganda efforts – are not addressed.

Ruben Hinojosa has decided not to seek re-election next year, party officials said Friday, calling an end to a 20-year career for a lawmaker who has represented a Texas district with one of the…