John Kerry Wants Aleppo's Liberation Halted

by Stephen Lendman

According to the neocon Washington Post, Kerry is "furious(ly)" aiming "to strike a deal with Russia to end the siege of Aleppo."

It has nothing to do with alleged concern about humanitarian crisis conditions in the city or elsewhere in Syria. Washington bears full responsibility for genocidal naked aggression against a nonbelligerent nation, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians alone, unaccountable high crimes.

It has everything to do with Trump's pledge to normalize ties with Russia, cooperating with Putin in combating terrorism in Syria - if he fulfills his promise.

According to Putin aide Yury Ushakov, Kerry's outreach to Sergey Lavrov "could be called unbelievable…" Never before have both diplomatics had so many telephone discussions short-term on one issue.

It's hard imagining Moscow falling for his stunt. Obama, Kerry and others in Washington want Assad ousted, Syrian sovereignty destroyed, an Israeli rival eliminated, and Iran isolated ahead of launching regime change against its government by color revolution, another type coup or war.

In a January 15 letter, after Washington reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba weeks earlier, Fidel Castro said "I do not trust US policy nor have I exchanged a word with them…"

Russia needs no reminder about US duplicity, its hostility toward Moscow, its imperial aggression, its quest for global dominance.

According to WaPo, Kerry offered to separate nonexistent moderates from US designated terrorists. Who's he kidding? Syrian and allies forces continue making important gains in Aleppo, liberating eastern areas impressively, terrorists supported by Washington and its rogue partners clearly on the back foot.

According to Russia's Defense Ministry, "Syrian government troops continue to liberate the northern part of eastern Aleppo from militants. Forty percent of the eastern part of the city has been freed from terrorists."

"Residents of the freed districts are provided with humanitarian aid, food, water and essentials by the Russian center for reconciliation and Syrian authorities."

Demands by Syria's Army General Command for terrorists infesting eastern Aleppo to lay down their arms, cease fighting, or be annihilated, mostly went unanswered.

According to journalist Evgeny Krutikov, government advances in eastern Aleppo "ha(ve) been so fast that jihadists have failed to make countermoves." They're slowly being defeated.

More than 3,000 civilians held hostage as human shields are now free. Most others remain trapped, awaiting liberation by advancing Syrian forces.

Reports indicate al-Nusra terrorists agreed to surrender the strategic town of Khan al-Sheih to government forces in return for transfer to Idlib province.

Syria with Russian and other allies is winning the battle for Aleppo impressively, smashing US-supported terrorists, Kerry  desperate to stop it.           

Betrayed by Obama so many times before, expect no deal from his current hollow offer. According to Ushakov, "(w)e will patiently wait the for" the new regime in Washington to take over…(W)e are interested in having intensive dialogue with them."

Will Trump fulfill his promise of better Russia/US relations, including cooperating with Putin in combating terrorism? 

He's already facing enormous pressure to continue dirty business as usual. Is he tough-minded enough to do the right thing for the sake of world peace and stability?

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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