U.S. conditions Syrian settlement on Assad resignation - policy expert
MOSCOW. July 8 (Interfax) - The United States will be ready to put pressure on the Syrian opposition only if there is a real chance for President Bashar al-Assad to resign, Nixon Center President Dmitri Simes said.
Simes, who visited Moscow to attend the third annual Russian-U.S. seminar, told Interfax on Monday the United States would not pressure the Syrian opposition without al-Assad's resignation prospect.
It is an adamant and principled position of Washington that the Syrian president must step down, the expert said. The U.S. administration deems it impossible to let al-Assad stay in office under the context of its domestic policy and relations with its allies, he added.
He also said that the current situation in Egypt had prompted the U.S. to consider more moderate scenarios for Syria.
There is no doubt that the removal of (ousted Egyptian President Muhammad) Mursi facilitates consideration of more moderate scenarios for Syria by the Obama Administration, he said. Mursi created a dilemma: whether the U.S. can be more moderate and careful in the Syrian issue than its allies or not, Simes said.
As to the U.S. projection of Syrian authorities after al-Assad leaves, the expert said the U.S. was not inclined to repeat the mistakes made after toppling Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
The U.S. learned its lessons from the Iraqi tragedy and realized that neither the Syrian Army nor the Syrian police should be dismantled. It is necessary to find a formula for integrating the foundation of the existent regime into the future government, Simes said.
