Syria Deal Restores Russia’s Role As Mideast Player
Chemical weapons agreement checks US power while offering Obama a chance to buttress his anti-war bona fides
By STEVEN R. HURST September 15, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — The US deal with Russia to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons has pulled the Obama administration into deep Russian waters as the Kremlin tries to restore Moscow to its place as a pivotal Mideast player.
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If Syria, which relies on Russian patronage, signs on, then the deal temporarily would solve a big domestic political problem for President Barack Obama. Russian President Vladimir Putin would walk away with two immense prizes, at the least.
The framework does not settle the larger issue, ending the civil war that has ravaged Syria for more than two years. Nor does it address Obama’s calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s departure and his replacement by democratic order in a country that has never known one.
For Obama, the agreement hammered out in Geneva would buttress his inclination to find answers through diplomacy rather than military means.
It could, for a time, distract Americans who had grown critical, or at least doubtful, about his foreign policy bona fides, given White House waffling and course changes on threatened airstrikes against Syria. That was Obama’s declared response to punish Assad for what the US says was his use of chemical weapons in an attack last month, killing more than 1,400 people.
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