So you want to save Syrian civilization, Mr Kerry? Then try telling the truth

In a January 31 report on Islamic State's attack on Syrian civilians, the Associated Press reported U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as saying:

"... to make the most of this moment, to seize the opportunity for serious negotiations, to negotiate in good faith with the goal of making concrete measurable progress in the days immediately ahead."

"Now, while battlefield dynamics can affect negotiating leverage, in the end there is no military solution to this conflict.  Without negotiations, the bloodshed will drag on until the last city is reduced to rubble and virtually every home, every form of infrastructure, and every semblance of civilization is destroyed."

Kerry knows very well that the grim scenario he outlined is very unlikely to happen now that the Russians have joined with Lebanon's Hezbolla; the Iranian, Syrian and Iraqi armies; and the large number of Syrian volunteer militias fighting on the government's side.

However, the dystopia John Kerry describes almost happened, and it didn't almost happen because of Bashar al-Assad or even the mukhabarat. If he didn't know this when he first took over at the State Department, he knows now. This means he has to find the courage to proceed on truth.

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