Page 8 - Geneva Process News Today

And what is absolutely clear is that with each passing day, more people inside of syria are suffering. the state of syria itself is crumbling. that is bad for syria, it is bad for the region. it is bad for global national security, because what we know is that there are extremists who have moved into the vacuum in certain portions of syria in a way that could threaten us over the long term. so this is one of our highest national security priorities, and i know that francois feels the same way, a...

The opposition has been frag meanted and at war with itself. the geneva process, women and children and old men being bussed out of the center of homs, that is the one and only positive sign that has come out thus far. the syrian government has agreed to come back to the syrian peace talks in a few days. you can look at that as positive. bashar al assad has only gotten stronger and stronger. and i think hes begun to shirk off concerns that the west will come after him again. >> hes not afraid of...

The chemical agreement. >> i understand. but the fact that this chemical issue has brought the world together to finally pay attention, is this a moment you can build from? >> that depends to a large extent to the country that are supporting the terrorists in syria. >> before i go back to greg. there are a lot of countries involved in this process. not just the u.s. and russia. iran, israel, turkey, and even china so much depends on syrians proposition with the geneva process. are you prepared t...

Thats exactly what this is. they cant micromanage this. this is going to backfire. everybody knows it, everybody sees it except for the people in washington, d.c., and thats why the people are going to stand up as they have and dictate to the representatives exactly what the outcome is here. >> karen? >> you know, chris, im not comfortable with the idea that we think its not our problem when over 100,000 people have been killed. weve been talking about the use of chemical weapons. were talking a...

Situation currently in syria, which is becoming proxy war with hezbollah and so many other factions coming into the country whereas you have syrians fleeing the country unfortunately, and one air strike does not sound to anyone like it will solve the problems. sending a signal, a slap on the hand to assad, okay, thats a step. but that doesnt move us in any kind of political or are diplomatic reconciliation. >> what are you suggesting? >> im opposed to the air strikes. id like to know more about ...

Not its not our problem. certainly we should care, but certainly, you know, is the air strike the way to get us to the geneva process that the secretary was talking about? i dont think it is. i think a majority of americans recognize that the chances that this becomes a, you know, we get sucked into mission creep, are so high that we want better assurance of what were really trying to do here. we dont think an air strike is going to solve it. >> listen. it is true that people understand that thi...

In syria. and so, yes, the policy is politically through the geneva process, through our commitment to the ultimate negotiated settlement that will have to take place, there is no future for assad in that governance. but this military operation is specifically geared to prevent a future chemical attack and to deter and to degrade the assad capacity to be able to do that. now let me be clear. whatever the president ultimately decides to do in that context i assure you assad will feel its impact a...

States has said that assad must go, and that is the policy of the united states. but we do not believe that this military action the president has decided to take should be more than an effort to try to deter and prevent the use of chemical weapons and to degrade his capacity to use those weapons. so the military operation is not calculated to become involved in the effort to topple him, but the political operation and the support for the opposition is. and the president of the united states, as...

Support for the opposition is. and the president of the united states, as you know, has declared that we will provide additional support to the opposition. we do not believe there is any scenario under which assad can continue with any kind of authority whatsoever to govern in syria. and so, yes, the policy is politically through the geneva process, through our commitment to the ultimate negotiated settlement that will have to take place, there is no future for assad in that governance. but this...

Political solution that can be achieved through the geneva process. and we will continue to work with russia in conjunction with us in that effort to try to achieve that political settlement. that is our top priority. that is the fundamental objective of all of our efforts. it is to recognize that there isnt ultimately a military solution. there has to be a negotiated political solution. and the president remains deeply committed to that. >> mr. secretary, thank you for your time. i appreciate i...