More than one-quarter of the House Democratic caucus called on the White House to engage with Iran and Russia with a view of promoting multilateral talks aimed at ending the Syrian Civil War.
Fifty-five representatives, led by Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), asked the Obama administration in a letter sent Tuesday to engage with its two adversaries if it wants to pragmatically find a rapid terminus to the brutal conflict.
“The only real solution in Syria, a solution that should be implemented today, is for the international community—all of the players who have a stake and influence in Syria—to come together, today, to begin the process of working out an international [peace] agreement,” Himes said on the House floor Wednesday.
“Until we take this step…we will simply be managing chaos,” he added.
The lawmaker also said that a discussion about a settlement involving all players in Syria has only become increasingly politically acceptable because Americans are being asked to help more refugees.
Repeating some reasons Dems mentioned when justifying their support of the Iran nuclear agreement, Himes said the terms of any such deal would probably be “uncomfortable for us” and negotiations would involve “unsavory characters,” but that the means are justified by the desired ends—the termination of a brutal conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced millions more.
Himes added that a regional consensus on the need to confront the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIL) makes the possibility of talks more likely and their potential outcome more fruitful.
He said, however, that the exit of Syria’s incumbent president, Bashar al-Assad, should be the eventual outcome of discussions– a point that will likely be met by Moscow with push-back. On Wednesday, the Russian military stepped up its support of the Syrian government by conducting airstrikes against the Assad regime’s enemies.
“Russian defence officials say aircraft carried out about 20 missions targeting Islamic State, but US officials said that so far they did not appear to be targeting [ISIL]-held territory,” the BBC reported.
Watch Rep. Himes’ Wednesday remarks:
