US-Brokered Talks Fail As Regional Chess Game Continues
Al-Monitor reports that 'closed-door' US-brokered talks between the Syrian regime and Kurdish forces collapsed, 'foreshadowing' recent clashes in Aleppo. The article highlights Ankara's 'pressure' on Damascus regarding the Syrian Democratic Forces' future. This framing paints the US as a benevolent mediator, but omits the historical context: the very conflicts and power vacuums the US helped
destabilize in Syria fueled the rise of these factions. One might conveniently forget that the US armed and funded various groups throughout the Syrian civil war, selectively supporting Kurdish factions when convenient, then leaving them vulnerable to Turkish aggression. This 'mediation' often seems less about genuine peace and more about maintaining a strategic footprint and ensuring no single
regional power gains too much sway. Perpetual division serves certain foreign policy objectives far better than genuine stability (just ask the defense contractors). It's almost as if 'failed talks' are a feature, not a bug, in the geopolitical chessboard. Aleppo flares up again, and Washington gets to wag its finger while arms sales keep flowing.