No trust in Russia to tame Assad, nor in America to do justice to people

Abdulwahab Badrakhan writes in his article in Al-Hayat that Obama’s only remaining task before he leaves his post is not to commit any mistakes that could shackle the next president’s policies and "her" options.

The writer argues that it would not be surprising if Obama and Kerry compromise Syria’s future just to maintain cooperation with Putin who has not compromised anything, explaining that this cooperation is needed by the US to maintain Syria’s situation until its presidential elections take place, while Russia needs it to maintain a tight grip on the future Clinton administration.

The writer then explains that agreements between any two superpowers are based solely on their own personal interests, and in Syria, Russia wishes to protect its intervention and maintain its allies and perhaps even welcome in new ones, while the US uses its allies as tools to reach its goals and even flirts with Russia and Iran when needed.

The writer then states that a “comprehensive truce” remains the main key in the prospective US-Russian agreement. He then argues that this truce is impossible to believe especially since Russia and Assad are known for continuously violating agreements in Syria and both Assad and Iran will never quit the fight.

The writer then assumes that Russia is considering this time to respect the ceasefire truce, so he asks, what will Russia gain in return?

Even though the US and Russia seem to show that a ceasefire is the only path to a political solution in Syria, the writer argues, its prolonging and Russia’s intensified bombing are aimed at annihilating the opposition, which is a fact the opposition perhaps is well aware of.

The writer then argues that Assad’s removal is the only path to a political transitional solution in Syria. However, the writer concludes that this is not confirmed by the current indicators until further notice.