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The Russia Idea On Syria Has To Be Carried Out Through The UN

English: Flag of Syria, from 1932-58 and 1961-63. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If war can be avoided, that is a good thing, but the proposal that has been making the rounds has to take the form of a UN Security Council resolution. What Syria will do has to be clear. What punishment will be meted out should Syria backtrack should also be clear in the resolution.

Some good will come out of the exercise. One, war will be avoided. Two, the UN will gain currency. Three, this will hopefully lead to a ceasefire in Syria and a political solution to the grave crisis in that country.

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Kerry's Proposal Is A Good One

English: SOCHI. With President of Syria Bashar al-Assad. Русский: СОЧИ, БОЧАРОВ РУЧЕЙ. С Президентом Сирии Башаром Асадом. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If Syria hands over all its chemical weapons, that can be a nice way out of the current quagmire. Wars are always ugly. There is no such thing called a surgical war. But pressure has to be maintained, and preparations have to be made.

Other than the weapon, a few good things about the move would be that one, maybe Assad will agree to a ceasefire and a political solution, and two, it is a good thing that Russia and the US are cooperating.

The tech community feels differently about Snowden than does DC. The nation state is in a clash with the Internet. The Internet has a libertarian bent to it. So the Russia-Snowden affair is not all that black and white.

If Assad will agree to hand over his chemical weapons, maybe Assad will also agree to a political solution that will start with an all round ceasefire to bring the mindless killings to an end. But then the roadmap has to lead to elections to a constituent assembly, to start with a caretaker interim government. Or am I asking too much?

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