Despite UN grandstanding, here's how world leaders have repeatedly flip-flopped on Syria

Published September 29th, 2015 - 10:08 GMT

Ban Ki-Moon opened the 70th United Nations General Assembly on Monday, putting a spotlight on finding peace for Syria. Ban says five countries hold the key to ending the war there: Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.

Yet ever since the war began in 2011, these countries (and others) have failed to end the conflict. Their policies towards Syria have been bumbling and ham-fisted; many have reversed course multiple times. Here’s a look at world leaders who have flip-flopped on their approach to the brutal civil war.

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In the early years of Syria’s civil war, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Assad as a killer and a “butcher.” But on Sept. 24, after a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Erdogan said that Assad could “perhaps” be involved in a “transition” to a new government in Syria.

President Obama has been clear from the start of the Syrian war that “Assad must go” before a new government can be set up in the Middle Eastern nation. But a few weeks ago, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the timing of Assad’s removal was negotiable. Kerry said Assad “doesn't have to be gone on day one or month one, or whatever.”

Obama has also flip-flopped on the best way for the US to influence the outcome of the bloody conflict. In August 2014, Obama said it was a “fantasy” to think that arming the rebels would have helped the situation in Syria. The following year, of course, the Obama administration did just that.

Speaking last week after an EU summit on the migrant crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that President Bashar al-Assad should be involved in any Syrian peace talks. Merkel made the statement despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of refugees are currently swarming Germany and the rest of Europe in order to escape Assad’s brutality.

Rached el-Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda movement, initially called Assad a butcher but later invited the Syrian president to a peace meeting in Tunisia in order to discuss how to end the war and repair the Arab Syrian relationship.

Saudi Arabian defense minister Mohammad bin Salman

Even Saudi Arabia’s position is shifting. The Kingdom has been one of the biggest suppliers of arms to the Syrian rebels, but in July, Saudi Arabian defense minister Mohammad bin Salman reportedly met with the Syrian government’s security chief, Ali Mamlouk, to talk about changing Saudi Arabia’s position toward the conflict.

Israel has had a schizophrenic approach to the war raging in its northeastern neighbor. They've aided Islamic Syrian rebels, but also threatened to attack that same group in order to protect the Druze in southern Syria. Israeli officials have also called for support for Assad, seeing him as the best possible outcome in the chaotic three-way war.

French president Francois Hollande initially maintained that France would not bomb ISIS in Syria, saying that such an action needed to be covered by international law, and also might help Assad, who Hollande has said must step down. But last week, France began conducting airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, citing the need to defend itself.

In 2013, Egypt hosted a festival supporting Syrian opposition against Assad. Yet in September, politician Ayman Nour (founder of Egypt's El Ghad party) wrote on his official Twitter account that Egypt and Syria are creating an initiative to usher in Syrian reform, “re-polishing Assad” via visits to Arab nations, mediated by Egyptian officials.

In the early years of Syria’s civil war, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Assad as a killer and a “butcher.” But on Sept. 24, after a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Erdogan said that Assad could “perhaps” be involved in a “transition” to a new government in Syria.

President Obama has been clear from the start of the Syrian war that “Assad must go” before a new government can be set up in the Middle Eastern nation. But a few weeks ago, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the timing of Assad’s removal was negotiable. Kerry said Assad “doesn't have to be gone on day one or month one, or whatever.”

Obama has also flip-flopped on the best way for the US to influence the outcome of the bloody conflict. In August 2014, Obama said it was a “fantasy” to think that arming the rebels would have helped the situation in Syria. The following year, of course, the Obama administration did just that.

Speaking last week after an EU summit on the migrant crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that President Bashar al-Assad should be involved in any Syrian peace talks. Merkel made the statement despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of refugees are currently swarming Germany and the rest of Europe in order to escape Assad’s brutality.

Rached el-Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda movement, initially called Assad a butcher but later invited the Syrian president to a peace meeting in Tunisia in order to discuss how to end the war and repair the Arab Syrian relationship.

Even Saudi Arabia’s position is shifting. The Kingdom has been one of the biggest suppliers of arms to the Syrian rebels, but in July, Saudi Arabian defense minister Mohammad bin Salman reportedly met with the Syrian government’s security chief, Ali Mamlouk, to talk about changing Saudi Arabia’s position toward the conflict.

Israel has had a schizophrenic approach to the war raging in its northeastern neighbor. They've aided Islamic Syrian rebels, but also threatened to attack that same group in order to protect the Druze in southern Syria. Israeli officials have also called for support for Assad, seeing him as the best possible outcome in the chaotic three-way war.

French president Francois Hollande initially maintained that France would not bomb ISIS in Syria, saying that such an action needed to be covered by international law, and also might help Assad, who Hollande has said must step down. But last week, France began conducting airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, citing the need to defend itself.

In 2013, Egypt hosted a festival supporting Syrian opposition against Assad. Yet in September, politician Ayman Nour (founder of Egypt's El Ghad party) wrote on his official Twitter account that Egypt and Syria are creating an initiative to usher in Syrian reform, “re-polishing Assad” via visits to Arab nations, mediated by Egyptian officials.

Despite UN grandstanding, here's how world leaders have repeatedly flip-flopped on Syria

In the early years of Syria’s civil war, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Assad as a killer and a “butcher.” But on Sept. 24, after a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Erdogan said that Assad could “perhaps” be involved in a “transition” to a new government in Syria.

Obama has also flip-flopped on the best way for the US to influence the outcome of the bloody conflict. In August 2014, Obama said it was a “fantasy” to think that arming the rebels would have helped the situation in Syria. The following year, of course, the Obama administration did just that.

Rached el-Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda movement, initially called Assad a butcher but later invited the Syrian president to a peace meeting in Tunisia in order to discuss how to end the war and repair the Arab Syrian relationship.

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