The ongoing conflict in Syria should act as a good platform for the US government to assert her authority in international diplomacy. The US government led by the Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson should mediate in the stalled Geneva UN-sponsored Peace Talks between the Syrian regime and opposition groups instead of labeling all Syrians as potential terrorists and persona non-grata to the US soil.

Millions killed in the Syrian conflict

The Syrian war which began in 2011 has claimed an estimated 300,000 lives besides leaving a large section of Damascus in debris following the Syrian and Russian fierce bombardment aimed at breaking rebels’ positions.

Many historical sites including Palmyra have also been destroyed by rebels and other ISIL operatives engaged in endless bloody battle against the government forces.

The UN report indicates an estimated 4.8 million people have fled the troubled Syria while over 6.3 remain internally displayed and depraved of basic necessities like food, water and clothing and are at the verge of utter despair. The attempts by Red Cross and other humanitarian groups to reach millions trapped between warring groups have in many situations failed.

Russia and allies escalating crisis

Russia and her allies including Turkey lack any credibility to lead any form of negotiation as a result of their perceived engagement in direct air combat that has claimed thousands of lives of innocent civilians.

The failure of the international community (including the US) has empowered Moscow to continue calling the shorts. This has jeopardized the already dire situation as Russia continues to use its massive air-power to pound opposition controlled zones fighting against President bashar al assad.

US President Donald Trump’s decree barring Syrians among a host of other Muslim refugee from entering into the US will not solve the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis but only endanger the lives of millions of Syrian women and children scampering for safety or seeking asylum in the United States.

The continued warfare has threatened to sabotage the Geneva peace talk with the possibility of plunging the disintegrating Syria into greater turmoil.

UN envoy very pessimistic of peace talk

UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura has persistently stated he does not expect any meaningful breakthrough in the stalled peace talks.

This follows the refusal by the Syrian government to agree on the peaceful exit of incumbent President Bashar Al Assad as a condition for any peace talk progress. The moves come in the wake of intensified escalation of pro-government bombardment of rebels’ strongholds in the outskirts of Damascus.

President Donald Trump should capitalize on his closer relationship with Moscow to negotiate for a peaceful exit from power of President Bashar Al Assad who has been viewed as an impediment to the peace talks since the Arab spring uprising swept across Syria leaving swathes of the country into the rebels control. Rebels have maintained that only the exit of President Assad and the formation of an all-inclusive government would guarantee peace in the war raved country.

It’s also time the US government abandoned the obsolete Obama era agenda of arming rebels perceived to be fighting the autocratic Syrian regime. Experience and facts on the ground have explicitly indicated most of these sophisticated weapons have ended in the wrong hands including ISIL thereby plunging the volatile region into greater turmoil.