Syria “cease fire” already violated

Yesterday, I wrote about the farcical Syria cease fire negotiated by John Kerry with Russia. If I had waited a few hours, I would have learned that the agreement, which went into effect yesterday, was immediately violated. According to the Washington Post:

Residents and activists of the besieged rebel portion of Aleppo said that Syrian government helicopters had dropped barrel bombs on one neighborhood of the city and that loyalist forces were shelling a route intended to be used for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Pro-government media accused the rebels of launching a new attack in the southern province of Quneitra, and there were reports of airstrikes and artillery shelling in other parts of the country.

John Kerry appeared to be unfazed by the violations. “It’s far too early to draw any definitive conclusions,” he insisted.

But it’s difficult to disagree with this definitive conclusion by the head of the U.S. backed Tajamu al-Izza brigade who, unlike John Kerry, has skin in the game: “Honestly, we do not trust the regime and we do not trust the Russians.”

Only a fool would.

Speaking of fools, according to the Post, Kerry is confused about what his agreement means:

This accord also adds new complications in the form of a provision for the United States to carry out joint airstrikes with Russia against extremists whose positions are known to be entangled with the moderate rebels on some front lines.

That has resulted in confusion even on the part of Kerry as to what the agreement means. In comments widely disparaged by opposition supporters on social media, he seemed to indicate that Russia and the United States would jointly approve future airstrikes carried out by the Syrian government.

The State Department issued a statement retracting the remarks.

Had that U.S. backed rebel brigade leader been more candid, he might have said he doesn’t trust the U.S. either. Who could blame him?

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