Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Arabia wants him gone. Yahoo/AFP.
Saudi Arabia has rejected Russian efforts to prop up Bashar al-Assad in extremely strong terms, claiming that Bashar al-Assad has to go and threatened a "military solution" to end the war. AFP. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir made the statements in response to Russian moves in the region. Saudi Arabia has rejected Vladimir Putin's call for an international coalition to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Arabia is also furious at the presence of Iranian troops and advisers in Syria. The only two options Saudi Arabia will accept is either Assad resigning or a "military solution". Minister Jubeir did not elaborate what that military solution would entail, but did note that Saudi Arabia is helping to prop up the various "moderate" rebel groups fighting against Assad. Saudi Arabia called on Russia to stop supporting Assad and to join the U.S. led coalition.
My Comment:
Saudi Arabia is playing a dangerous game here. Trying to pick a fight with Russia is not a good idea. And that is what they are doing. Threatening a military option against Assad, and by implication, the Russians as well, is a losing proposition. Russia may not be the cold war power that it used to be but it still is much more powerful then Saudi Arabia is. To anger them is foolish, to fight them is suicidal.
Saudi Arabia is wrong. It is becoming more and more obvious that Assad really is the only choice left for Syria. There may have been a time when the so called "secular" rebels were the right choice. That time is long over. Those rebels are far outnumbered by the Jihadists, and have very little chance of being the winning faction. Though Assad has been crippled by the war, he is still in a stronger position then any of the secular rebels, who, by the way, aren't that secular. If anything the Syrian regime is the only secular force left.
And though Assad is clearly a brutal dictator, any criticism from the Saudis is very hypocritical indeed. Almost every crime Assad has been accused of, the Saudis have been guilty of and they have gone above and beyond what Assad has done. They have a terrible human rights record, and treat women and homosexuals as less then human. They support terrorism throughout the world and the Saudi government is a major reason that Islam is in the state it is in right now. They have no business criticizing any government for any reason.
I think Saudi Arabia's true objection to Assad is obvious. They couldn't care less about his human rights record. They just care that he is an ally of Iran, which is Saudi Arabia's number one rival, in a military, political and religious sense. Assad could really have been a benevolent leader with no issues whatsoever, and Saudi Arabia would still hate him. I'm not saying that Assad isn't a terrible dictator, just that Saudi Arabia couldn't care less that he is.
There is some question as to what a military solution could be. They are, of course, propping up the rebels in the region. I would not be surprised if they were supporting, directly or indirectly, ISIS and al-Nusra. But other then supporting rebels and terrorists, what can the Saudis do? I don't see them deploying ground troops or air forces. They are far to tied up in Yemen to risk any forces for a brutal fight against Assad and Russia. And any airstrikes sent in against the regime would have a very strong chance of being shot down since Assad's air defenses are great and his Russian allies have a decent air force in the region.
So is this a true threat? Probably not. My guess is that this is just sound and fury signifying nothing. Saudi Arabia knows that it is losing control of the Middle East. They are understandably upset at that proposition, but there is very little they can actually do. I think that they will continue to whine while the world leaves them behind.
As for America, it seems like we are washing our hands on the Syria issue. Yes we are still bombing ISIS, but it no longer looks like we care about what happens to the Assad regime. I saw a story saying that our training mission is over, which is a good thing since it was a colossal failure. I also heard that the Republican front runner, Donald Trump, is supportive of Iran and Russia fighting in Syria. My guess is that our adventure in Syria is going to be over before it has really began. Which is fine with me.
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