Not backed by the USA but the Bush /early Obama policy of letting the Saudis "manage" the area has been a complete disaster.
From the beginning of this conflict the only but of truth to hold is that it is like a pub fight in which everyone is fighting everyone else. Iran and Saudi Arabia lost control of their proxies (nobody can actually control a proxy in this region) and all hell has broken loose since.
The interviews ...... they are speaking from a Maoist prison but they were not saying anything we do not already know. The story repeats itseld and it is consistent with ISIS propaganda.
OK lets forget how it started and think about how it may finish. How does the world deal with the shattered mindsets on all sides of this conflict? With those mind sets in-situ nobody wants to be the Sheriff of Central Syria. The easiest and most convenient out for the Regime, the Russians and the US is to see the centre incorporated into a secular / Kurdish influenced / Communist State. But what does that mean in this context?
At the end of the day, the Kurds don't want to control undisputed Arab land and so these areas will remain autonomous BUT while the Regime, Russia and the US would like to see the area first "cleared" of Islamist militias, Turkey would prefer to see the same said Islamist militias remaining in absolute control. For the moment I can't say much more on this becasue I can't predict Turkey's next move.
Joining the belated pile-on at Raqqa the Luftwaffe has now commenced it's bombing runs. Basically all this can do is the churn the same destroyed buildings time and time again .... but the fact of Germany entering the fray may be significant. The US can use Germany to do its actual bidding while pretending to play muddle headed wombat games with the Turks, and in so doing keep the Turks in a muddle headed mode. It is not forgotten that Erdogan bombed US Special Forces and Contractors in Northern Iraq and later betrayed the a US trained group to Al Qaeda. If you know any Americans you will know that they won't align with Al Qaeda under any circumstances ..... a small fact lost on Erdogan and Davutoglu.
