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October 31st, 2015 
Awake Goy 
Fahwad Al-Khadoumi (nsnbc) : International talks on Syria in the Austrian capital Vienna, on Friday were held with the aim to reach a nationwide ceasefire as a foundation for a political solution to the war in Syria. Meanwhile, all of the belligerent parties continue to upscale military operations and support of their respective allied forces.
US Special Forces in Kobani in March 2015
The talks on Syria were the first to include Iran. A total of 17 countries participated in the meeting. The majority of them were at the early stages of the conflict united under the “Friends of Syria” umbrella.
The Friends of Syria format excluded Russia and Iran while it included NATO members such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other regional powers.
The “Friends of Syria” format was abolished after rivalries between Qatar and Saudi Arabia over the role of the Muslim Brotherhood vs. Al-Qaeda mercenaries busted the alliance. The Saudi – Qatari dispute was most overt during the days up to the chemical weapons attack in Jobar, when Saudi-backed brigades withdrew without informing their Qatari backed allies, leaving them to be literally wiped out by the Syrian Arab Army. The “Friends of Syria format effectively ended after the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
The meeting on Friday lasted eight hours instead of the scheduled four. All participants agreed on exploring modalities for the implementation of a nationwide ceasefire as a foundation for a parallel renewal of the political process designed to hold a new round of elections in Syria under supervision of the United Nations.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad receives a Russian delegation, saying he had nothing against early elections.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad recently declared that he was ready for early elections in Syria, adding that he had confidence in his chances as a candidate. Al-Assad has also repeatedly stressed that his mandate comes from the Syrian people alone and that he would step down the moment that he had no mandate. Al-Assad also stressed that “regime change” has to be constitutional and has to involve the Syrian electorate. The Presidency has no constitutional mandate to form any government without the mandate from the Syrian electorate, he added.
Friday’s meeting, however, showed that there was considerable disagreement with regard to the role of President Al-Assad in a political solution and a future Syrian government. The Arab nations, along with Britain, France, Turkey and the United States consider Al-Assad’s departure from office as “essential”. That, even though the United States has recently toned down its rhetoric in that regard. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that there had not been made any agreement with regard to President Al-Assad.
All of the participating parties would state that the Islamic State, a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, would have to be defeated, even though there were disagreements about how such a defeat would be compatible with “a nationwide ceasefire”.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond would note that the parties have agreed to narrow the differences with regard to the ceasefire and Al-Assad. Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs noted that the talks were difficult but constructive, and that the parties had enough common ground to start a political process under the aegis of the UN. It is noteworthy that the EU, in April 2013, lifted its ban on the import of Syrian oil from “rebel-held territories”.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted that nothing should distract from the objective that”Assad must go at the beginning of the process”. Al-Jubeir stressed that Saudi Arabia would continue to support insurgents who are fighting “the Assad regime” as if there were no peace talks. Saudi Arabia is, along with Turkey, sponsoring Jabhat Al-Nusrah, and more covertly Daesh.
The United States announced its deployment of special forces into Syria. The deployment is illegal under international law and has neither a mandate from the United Nations nor from the Syrian government. The announcement raised eyebrows among alert observers. In June 2012 a Whitehall official told the press that UK, and other, most likely U.S. Special Forces were operating in Syria. In March 2015 U.S. Special Forces were caught red-handed alongside Kurdish fighters in Syria. The touting of the deployment of 50 U.S. Special Forces as advisers to Kurdish forces in Syria as novelty is indeed misleading.
One of the unspoken points of contention between the USA/NATO and Russia is the probability of the establishment of a Kurdish State construct and rivalries with regard to overt and covert support of various Kurdish militant organizations including the YPG, the PKK, the Peshmerga and other. The Syrian and Iraqi theater will continue to be a continuum of Yalta, regardless whether or not a very unlikely nationwide ceasefire is reached in Syria.
F/AK – nsnbc 31.10.2015
Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2015/10/31/vienna-talks-aim-at-ceasefire-in-syria/
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