Could It Be That Cameron Is Now Prepared To Join Sides With Assad And Russia In The Fight Against The Common Enemy Isis?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3250670/David-Cameron-Assad-bring-peace-Syria.html

It is also reported that France is to launch it's first airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, although I think that they are less likely to side with Assad.

In light of these reports, one has to ask, what are Germany prepaid to do?

[ichkeria]

That isn't actually what is being suggested if you read it.
The idea is that demands for Assad to go immediately would be dropped in favour of him being allowed to stay on for a little bit in some mythical situation where Syria was governable. And all to win Russian support for the west's anti IS strikes. This must assume that Russia will otherwise continue to oppose such action. It's not clear to me how them giving their support would help. They seem to want their own alliance with Iran and Iraq.
I just pity the poor Syrians caught in the middle of all this

[Gromit]

The common enemy is Russia. That is why the US encouraged the Syrian Civil War in the first place. But all they have achieved in 5 years is destabilising the country so the evil wahabbi maniacs IS got a foothold.
Now Russia is planning to attack IS and save the country, and the US and UK are left looking impotent and irrelevant. The only option is to swap sides or face total humiliation. Half a million dead in Syria for nothing.

[Gromit]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-23/putin-said-to-plan-islamic-state-strikes-with-or-without-u-s-

[Orderlimit]

An article from BBC Newsnight's diplomatic and defence editor, Mark Urban

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34330151

[Gromit]

Washington has showed very little concern about the rise of IS in Syria. They were not particularly bothered which rebels removed Assad, even if they were Islamist nut cases. Once IS had taken Syria, their removal would be prompt, similar to the removal of the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt after they had overthrown the dictatorship there.

[agchristie]

// In light of these reports, one has to ask, what are Germany prepaid to do?//

I'm sure we will find out soon enough, Germany are good at dictating what should be done.

[ichkeria]

What has actually happened is that President Putin needs a military success story or at least campaign for home consumption to replace or overshadow the Ukraine situation, which is not really working out as he had planned and had cost 1000s of his troops
So that he has done is make a very public and visible ratcheting up of the support for the Syrian regime whose days seem otherwise numbered. Maybe he thinks there is some bargaining to be done. At the very least he gets the chance to escalate the conflict bringing further chaos to the EU
Saying that the common enemy was Russia all along is inaccurate. The west only started calling for Assad to go after he had the blood of thousands of innocents on his hands. Up till then the fact that he was an ally of Russia was immaterial - better a stable dictatorship than what we have now. But the dictatorsgip stopped being stable years ago and actually arguably it is the lack of support for the opposition in the face of the Russian sponsored killing machine of the Alawited which had largely contributed to the current desperate situation

[Orderlimit]

"What has actually happened is that President Putin needs a military success story or at least campaign....."

Where are you getting this theory from please ichkeria

[Gromit]

The West put up with the Russia leaning Assads for 40 years. However, the Arab Spring which saw regime change in many middle eastern countries, was an golden opportunity to encourage dissent in Syria and install a more west friendly regime, and close Russia's access to the Mediterranean. Assad is not close to toppling, quite the reverse. Russia was never going to let Assad fall. Russia have announced their iniative now because the west's policy is in disarray and not get any results. It has nowt to do with Ukraine.

[ichkeria]

It's a more likely scenario than Gromit's fantasy world :-)

I can't see Putin going with the idea mooted in AOGs link and elsewhere.
Why would he be been to be supporting the west in return for Assad in power for an interim period? What he wants is influence (who doesn't) in a permanent basis
But his country is falling apart: the economy is falling apart and his intervention close to home in Ukrsine is expensive and money and lives. A gas deal with Ukraine has just been signed, which is always a sign that he wants to play down the Ukrainian side for a while. Diverting attention to Syria seems a natural move.

[ichkeria]

Gromit the 'Arab spring' was largely a fiasco. Only in Tunisia had it come even close to achieving a.stavke change of government.
If yhr policy of the west was as you state then it would be barking mad
What we do learn sadly is that often if you play by the rules of humanitarian assistance etc you get largely nowhere. For example the west turned its back on its friend Munarak when his activities got beyond the pale . No such scruples from V V Putin who admittedly and wholly understandably has fewer friends

[Svejk]

It's all good stuff. The end is nigh for isis, imo, now China have joined Russia in support of Assad. Probably explains why 'call me dave' has cut back on the anti-Assad rhetoric as well.
Do you get your 'briefings' from Conservative Central Office, ichi? Because you seem to parrot the nonsense they've been peddling for the last few years.

[ichkeria]

Svejk I pay no attention whatever to what Conservative Central Office says about anything, but if they agree with me on this then they are not as dumb as I thought they were:-)