Sott Minute Syria policy
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Transcript:

After six years of the United States setting up Assad as a brutal dictator, arming and funding terrorist 'moderate rebels', destroying Syrian infrastructure, laying waste to the Syrian nation, and initiating the refugee crisis, the US has decided maybe their genius plan to oust Assad wasn't the best idea after all. I'm Shane LaChance for Sott.net and this is The Sott Minute.

RT reports that US Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters Thursday that the new administration has changed their priorities regarding 'Assad must go'.

Haley said,
"Our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out."

"Our priority is to really look at how do we get things done, who do we need to work with to really make a difference for the people in Syria."
If the US is to really look at who they need to work with, then Russia should be the obvious choice. However, we probably can't expect too much on that front yet, and Haley was more likely referring to Turkey.

Earlier on Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had a meeting in Ankara discussing Turkey's support for the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. His message was similar to Haley's in saying the future of President Assad, "will be decided by the Syrian people."

This meeting could indicate the United States is looking to utilize Turkey by offering them some type of deal. Relations between Washington and Ankara have been strained since the failed coup against Erdogan last July, which had many signs of being sponsored by the US.

A possible reason Ankara is once again opening it's doors to Washington could be related to the so-called Plan B of the Obama administration, which was basically to carve up Syria. Turkey has a long held interest in Syrian land, and this desire could be realized if a US 'Plan B' were to be achieved.

While Washington is apparently changing it's tune on Assad, this doesn't necessarily translate into a change in destructive tactics from the US empire. Alexander Mercouris for The Duran advises a word of caution.

He writes:
The fact that the unnamed Trump administration official is reported to have told Reuters that President Assad "is never going to have sufficient force to reassert control over the whole country" strongly suggests that the policy in Washington, now that regime change in Damascus has been abandoned, is to partition Syria, so as to create pro-US enclaves in Syria's northern and eastern regions.
While many have hopes that Trump could actually change US foreign policy, as things stand right now, the US position towards Syria is moving forward pretty much as it did before. This is the SOTT Minute. See you next time.