Kerry:“There has to be a transition government, there has to be a new governing entity in Syria..."

[jakeXT]

Kerry, Arab League envoy says conference on Syrian transitional government urgently needed

LONDON — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the U.N-Arab League envoy for Syria said Monday that an international conference to set up a Syrian transitional government must be organized urgently and held as soon as possible.

“There has to be a transition government, there has to be a new governing entity in Syria in order to permit the possibility of peace,” Kerry said. He said it was imperative to get the so-called “Geneva II” conference organized by a mid-November target the United Nations has set.

Kerry and envoy Lakhdar Brahimi spoke to reporters after meeting at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Britain.

“There can be, there will be, a political solution if everyone gets together and works for it,” Brahimi said. “Very soon we have to set a precise date.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kerry-arab-league-envoy-call-for-conference-on-syrian-transitional-government/2013/10/14/03f91030-34bd-11e3-89db-8002ba99b894_story.html



He said that Syrian President Bashar Assad "has lost the legitimacy to be able to be a cohesive force that could bring people together."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kerry-calls-conference-syria-transition-20561571

[dkf]

1. Oh for gads sakes. What are we up to?

And who in the world is a cohesive force in Syria? That alone makes me wonder if they have a clue.

[PeteSelman]

2. Why? Why does there HAVE to be a new government?

Why not just let them work it out?

I certainly don't want to be involved in any regime change in any way.

[bemildred]

3. Why?++

What is needed is government(s) that control their own territory and do not annoy the neighbors or their citizens too much. How many of them there are is not the issue, and on the whole more is better, as it makes it harder for them to throw their weight around and think they are better than anybody else.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. No JK, there doesn't. And your buddies are a bunch of jihadist extremists.

How about we stop fucking with Syria?

[warrenswil]

5. A small step forward

Kerry is moving in the right direction – but hardly anyone is mentioning the REAL long term solution: Syria as a nation-state is history!
I discussed this after a trip to the Middle East in September.
A long-term solution for Syria: 40-40-20 partition
Some way must be found to stop the daily slaughter.
Splitting up the territory along ethno-religious boundaries is a concept that’s worth debate.
I hope Kerry moves towards this in the Geneva 2 talks.
In the (K)now

[bemildred]

6. Push to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons may extend Assad's rule

BEIRUT — For much of Syria's civil war, President Bashar Assad has been a man in retreat. Rebels control vast stretches of his country. A little more than a month ago, he faced the prospect of U.S. military strikes that might have finally tipped the military balance.

But the U.S.-Russian deal to eliminate Syria's chemical arms, which headed off a U.S. missile barrage, has changed that. Assad is now an essential partner in a process that will last until at least mid-2014, and could drag on much longer.

In a few short weeks, the push to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons under international supervision has, in the view of many, in effect supplanted the goal of ousting Assad.

On Monday, Syria formally became the 190th nation to sign on to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the international treaty outlawing the use and production of such arms.

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-syria-assad-20131015,0,3098365.story