Kerry Bearing Good News For Syrian Opposition In Bid To Affirm US Engagement

By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / July 25, 2013


Secretary of State John Kerry (l.) speaks while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon listens before a meeting at United Nations Headquarters Thursday, July 25.

But that bit of news is unlikely to sway either opposition leaders or the rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who criticize the US for what they see as its disengagement from the Syrian conflict.

The grim statistics of Syria's two-year-old civil war were revised upwards Thursday when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced at a meeting with Secretary Kerry before he sat down with the opposition leaders that the war's death toll has surpassed 100,000.

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Kerry, who in recent weeks has been largely focused on getting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process back on track, will use his meeting with representatives of the Syrian National Coalition, including its new president, Ahmad al-Jarba, to demonstrate that the US has not forgotten about Syria and has not abandoned the opposition.

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But critics of the plan abound, both in the US and among Syrian opposition forces. Some members of Congress and rebel leaders say the planned US aid is too little, will not be decisive on any battlefield, and will at most only prolong the fighting. Those critics wanted the US to consider imposing a no-fly zone over parts of Syria, to provide heavier weaponry such as anti-aircraft missiles, and to create safe havens to facilitate humanitarian assistance to displaced Syrians inside the country.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2013/0725/Kerry-bearing-good-news-for-Syrian-opposition-in-bid-to-affirm-US-engagement