Maybe the West should pay the Russian government whatever it wants to remove President Assad and have elections in which ALL the Syrians vote.
Isn't what happened that Russia took an opportunity that the West's failure to provide support for the opposition created?
If Russia is demanding money from everyone to rebuild Syria, then maybe everyone should pay; if that's the only route through which countries that have no say about happens in Syria can have some influence, then that's the price that has to be paid to restore Syria to all of its citizens.
I don't know if I'm right to be annoyed by people who say that Russia would agree to a deal like that and then not remove President Assad. President Assad is in Russia's debt; he wouldn't be winning the war without Russia's intervention. If the West now has to pay the owners of the winner to remove the winner, isn't that what we brought on ourselves?
What other choice is there? Where else is someone suggesting that the refugees live?
I don't think that hubris and stinginess are the right tactics.
Copyright L. Kochman, February 28, 2017 @ 11:46 a.m.
