Syria Deeply: While Geneva Talks Move Forward, US Policy Falters and Syria Falls Apart

2/9/14, 9:39 PM

Syria Deeply: While Geneva Talks Move Forward, US Policy Falters and Syria Falls Apart

Dear Deeply Readers, Geneva II peace talks resume on Monday, after a one-week pause. They pick up on a sense of positive momentum, despite limited grains of concrete progress (U.N. envoy and lead negotiator Lakhdar Brahimi said there was enough ground to stand on). In the backdrop, the U.S. and Russia continue their own conversations on the situation in Syria arguably a more consequential track than the rebels and the regime, sitting at the negotiating table. The U.S. and Russia officially co-sponsor the Geneva peace talks, theoretically pushing on points of leverage they have within each camp. To date their pushing hasnt been enough to move the two sides toward any significant concessions, relative to the scale of the crisis. Take, for example, the humanitarian pause in Homs. The three-day ceasefire was meant to deliver lifesaving aid to 2,500 civilians trapped in the Old City, according to the Guardian. Compare that to a total of roughly four million civilians living under siege across the country, often without adequate food, water, or sanitation. In all, some 9.3 million people in Syria need some form of aid, according to the U.N. By Sunday, eyewitnesses said roughly 600 people had been evacuated from Homs. Earlier this week members of the U.N. Security Council pushed for a resolution that would enable broad-based aid deliveries to Syria, but the move was swiftly ruled out by Russia. With the U.S. hamstrung at the Security Council and facing a bloody stalemate on the ground, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that the Obama administrations policy is failing in Syria, according to the Washington Post (U.S. officials downplayed it a mischaracterization). More clearly in the public record, Obamas National Intelligence Director testified this week that President Bashar al Assad is now in a stronger position in Syria, gaining ground since and because of the U.S.-brokered chemical weapons deal in September. Even that deal is now falling behind its promise, with key deadlines missed and less than 5% of Syrias chemical stockpile removed (it was supposed to be all gone by December
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Syria Deeply: While Geneva Talks Move Forward, US Policy Falters and Syria Falls Apart

2/9/14, 9:39 PM

31). The plan to eliminate Syrias chemical arsenal is not falling apart, but we would like to see it proceed much more quickly than it is, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told CBS. The U.S. condemned a new round of regime barrel bombs dropped on Aleppo, with Kerry calling it the latest barbaric act of the Syrian regime. Syrians activists tell us they no longer take those statements, or the U.S., very seriously. This week the State Department said its Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, would soon retire and leave his post. Meanwhile, Americans are playing an active role in the jihadi ranks. At least 50 Americans have gone to fight in Syria, reports the Associated Press, a fact that the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary sees as a domestic threat. Jihadi groups have spiraled so far out of control and into autonomous, extremist realms that this week al-Qaida kicked out its Syria franchise for insubordination, disowning the Islamic State of Syrian and Iraq (ISIS). A new U.N. report on the abuse of children in Syria found that kids have been sexually abused in government detention, recruited to fight with the opposition, tortured with electric shocks, and used as civilian shields. The New York Times, citing the report, wrote that at least 10,000 children have been killed to date. Meanwhile fighting is inching closer to Krak des Chevaliers, one Syrias most important historical landmarks. At other heritage sites, UNESCO says illegal excavations have been lethal to Syrias cultural heritage. As theft and illegal digging feed the market for stolen artifacts Syrian treasures are on the black market. Syria is literally being taken apart in pieces, sold to the world, while global powers decide its fate. Highlights from Syria Deeply: How Do You Measure Genevas Success? Conversations: Snapshots of Civilian Life in Hama One on One: Martin Chulov, Middle East Correspondent, The Guardian Far From Yarmouk, Economic Hardship for A Palestinian Patriarch How Does the Regime Stand in Aleppo and Homs? Why Did al-Qaida Disavow ISIS? In Tartous, a Family Split By Politics Headlines from the Week: AP: Saudis Top Cleric Warns Against Fighting Assad AFP: 246 Dead in 5 Days of Barrel Bombing of Syrias Aleppo Time: Syrias Health Crisis Spirals as Doctors Flee The Guardian: Inside the Hellhole of Yarmouk, the Refugee Camp that Shames the World Al Arabiya: Activists Say ISIS Top Commander Killed in Syria
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Syria Deeply: While Geneva Talks Move Forward, US Policy Falters and Syria Falls Apart

2/9/14, 9:39 PM

Daily Star: Hezbollah Says it Will Remain in Syria VICE: Syrias Christian Minority is Fighting Back Were fielding your feedback on how to better serve you and cover the story. You can reach our team on email at info@syriadeeply.org. Sincerely, The News Deeply Team

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