PRESS RELEASE
Galbraith: Russian Actions in Palmyra ‘A Benefit to Mankind’
Dec. 12, 2016 (EIRNS)—Former Clinton-Administration Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith, today praised the combined Russian and Syrian actions in Palmyra as "a benefit to mankind." Speaking to Russia Today, Galbraith said,
"Russian air strikes and [the] Syrian government putting more troops [in Palmyra] is a service to mankind, to preserve both the population of the area but also these important monuments that really are [part of the] common heritage of all mankind.... Certainly one doesn’t want to see the Islamic State retake Palmyra, and Russian air strikes and Syrian troops are there to protect them [the people], and I hope they succeed."
Galbraith then took direct aim at Obama’s lame-duck desperation efforts to arm IS terrorists on his way out the door, charging that there was
"no merit in arming rebel groups after they’ve lost [because this is] only going to get more people killed ... I can’t see any point in policy for 45 days of arming rebel groups and then have a President come in who is going to go on the opposite side of the conflict."
"It’s clear that [Assad] has won this war. The important thing now is to try and figure out ways to bring the fighting to an end," Galbraith said, reiterating that "there is no point in continuing the war once it has already been lost."
In fact, "Russia and the West have some common interest in Syria," Galbraith argued, that of reducing the fighting in order to reduce the flow of refugees to Europe. If Washington and Moscow were to work together, he said, they could reach, "a negotiated surrender by the opposition where they don’t end up with nothing.... I think these are things that are achievable."
