John Kerry (and the Obama Administration) Get Played by Russia and Syria – Again

The Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, has announced a suspension of bombing in Aleppo and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to the city. According to the Russians, the bombing suspension will allow humanitarian aid to reach the city, which is not the purpose, and militants to leave the city, which is closer to the purpose.

What the Russians and Syrians have been trying to do is to regain control of all of Aleppo for the Bashar al-Assad regime.  You can do that by either killing those in Aleppo who oppose the regime or getting them to leave.  There is a limit to the number of people you can kill by bombing.  Plus there are the public relations problems.  Eventually, even Russia cares a little about this, especially when the bad publicity threatens to carry over to other areas.  For example, the EU is considering additional sanctions on Russia because of the Aleppo bombing.

But the main idea is to get the regime’s opponents in Aleppo to leave.  That gives the regime control of Aleppo.  There might not be all that much there, but the regime would control it.  And the rebels would not.  Bomb like crazy and then open up corridors to get the people you have been bombing (and denying supplies to) to leave.

It’s not humanitarian; it’s just another way to gain control.  And if John Kerry falls for it, by agreeing to resume some level of negotiations with the Russians over Syria, all the better to avoid those new sanctions the Europeans have been talking about.
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Note: The links above are to a story in The Wall Street Journal.  It may be behind a paywall.  You can find other stories saying much the same thing.  Inter alia, see here.