ALSO SEE: US Signals Shift on How to End Syrian Civil War

In Dramatic Shift, US Signals Support for Syria Peace Plan

By Anne Barnard, The Boston Globe

20 January 15

S support for a pair of diplomatic initiatives in Syria underscores the shifting views of how to end the civil war there and the West’s quiet retreat from its demand that the country’s president, Bashar Assad, step down immediately.

The Obama administration maintains that a lasting political solution requires Assad’s exit. But facing military stalemate, well-armed jihadis, and the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the United States is going along with diplomatic efforts that could lead to more gradual change in Syria.

This shift comes along with other American actions that Assad’s supporters and opponents take as proof Washington now believes that if Assad is ousted, there will be nothing to check the spreading chaos and extremism.

US warplanes now bomb the Islamic State group’s militants inside Syria, sharing skies with Syrian jets. US officials assure Assad, through Iraqi intermediaries, that Syria’s military is not their target. The United States still trains and equips Syrian insurgents but mainly to fight the Islamic State, not the government.

Now, the United States and other Western countries have publicly welcomed initiatives — one from the United Nations and one from Russia — that postpone any revival of the US-backed Geneva framework, which called for a wholesale transfer of power to a “transitional governing body.”

Secretary of State John Kerry declared last week that the United States welcomed both initiatives. He made no call for Assad’s resignation, a notable omission from Kerry, who has typically insisted on it in public remarks. Instead, he spoke of Assad as a leader who needed to change his policies.

The last Geneva talks failed a year ago amid vehement disagreement over whether a new government could include Assad.