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Another voice: A Syrian plan worth a look

 
Published May 10, 2017

After six years and with some 400,000 people killed, almost any plan to end or reduce the carnage in Syria would be welcome. So the Trump administration would be derelict if it did not give serious consideration to a plan for a ceasefire and safe zones brokered by Russia, with the backing of Turkey and Iran.

The plan contains flaws, and President Donald Trump could make the situation worse if he is too eager to make common cause with his erstwhile buddy, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who cares most about securing his own legacy and Russian interests in the Middle East. Syria will be a main focus when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in Washington today.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced Tuesday that it would provide Syrian Kurds near the Turkish border with heavy weapons so they can help retake Raqqa from the Islamic State. Like Barack Obama before him, Trump has faced a choice between arming the Syrian Kurds — a move deeply opposed by Turkey — and not arming them and thus weakening the fight against ISIS. The Kurds have been among the most effective U.S. allies in the war against the Islamic State, but Turkey regards them as allies of Kurdish separatists inside Turkey.

It is not clear how the administration intends to avoid a backlash from Turkey or whether its decision will in some way affect the ceasefire deal, which went into effect at midnight Friday. Under the deal, Russia, Turkey and Iran pledged to enforce a ceasefire between Syrian government and opposition forces in Idlib province, part of Homs province, the Ghouta suburbs of Damascus and parts of Syria's southern provinces.

The plan would allow displaced or embattled Syrians to relocate to the designated safe areas, still held by rebels unaffiliated with the Islamic State, and enable aid deliveries to some 4.5 million people at risk. It also calls for all parties to fight jihadis like the Islamic State and the al-Qaida-linked group once known as the Nusra Front.

Previous ceasefires have been short-lived. The new deal has led to reduced fighting but hardly a cessation. On Sunday, the army of President Bashar Assad, whose government agreed to the ceasefire, seized control of the village of al-Zalakiyat north of Hama, a war monitor reported.

In Copenhagen on Monday for a meeting of the anti-ISIS coalition, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the United States owed it to the Syrian people to take a close look at the deal but emphasized the many questions, including whether it could be effective.

Although Trump raised the idea of safe zones during the campaign, the Pentagon has long been opposed because they could lead to a new commitment of U.S. forces in a messy civil war.

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Dividing Syria into government and rebel sectors, even temporarily, as this agreement does, is not ideal. The last thing the region needs is another fractured state. But after years of fruitless attempts to end the killing and forge a comprehensive political solution that would replace Assad with a more inclusive government, it may be the only way to stop the bloodshed.