As the Syria cease-fire agreement falls apart, the Pentagon continues to plan for the possibility that it will have to conduct coordinated airstrikes with Russia against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria.
The formation of what’s been dubbed the JIC, for Joint Implementation Center, is contingent on two conditions being met: a significant reduction in violence for seven straight days, and the free flow of humanitarian aid into Aleppo and other besieged areas of Syria.
The first seven days passed without either condition being met, and Syria declared the “cessation of hostilities” agreement a failure, and blamed the opposition forces.
Pentagon officials said the deal was supposed to ground all Syrian planes from day one, something that didn’t happen.
Instead parts of Aleppo were bombed, by either Syrian or Russian planes or both. And at least 18 UN trucks carrying aid were hit on Monday.
With the cease-fire in tatters, there’s little prospect of the U.S. and Russians sharing intelligence and targeting anytime soon, but Pentagon planners are plodding ahead with the logistics, including a locating the JIC at an undisclosed city in Europe.
“It’s a city with good international air service,” was all that one Pentagon official would say.
Pentagon officials privately have voiced their disdain for working side-by-side with a Russian air force that uses obsolete unguided bombs, and seems to show little regard for high civilian casualties.
It’s a bitter irony that while the U.S. considers the Russian air campaign reckless and unprofessional, it was the U.S.-led coalition that erroneously bombed Syrian troops, mistaking them for Islamic State targets.
The U.S. quickly admitted its error when notified by the Russians, and apologized. But the incident just underscored the problem with separating the various factions on the battlefield.
Some Pentagon official remain skeptical that the plan for joint airstrikes will ever actually be put into effect, due to the deep skepticism about Moscow’s commitment to fighting ISIS.
On Monday, the State Department insisted the agreement is not dead, despite the many violations.
“We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities, while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance,” spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
“We will be consulting with our Russian counterparts to continue to urge them to use their influence on Assad to these ends.”
The State Department says the level of fighting has been reduced over the past week, but that deliveries of relief supplies only began today and only in limited areas.
Kirby said the agreement is clear that there must be increased and sustained access for the delivery of humanitarian supplies and seven days before the U.S. Russian Joint Implementation Center can be established.
And he dismissed statements from Syria that the cease-fire expired Monday.
“While we have seen comments attributed to the Syrian military, our arrangement is with Russia, which is responsible for the Syrian regime’s compliance, so we expect Russia to clarify their position.”
Secretary of State John Kerry is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly session, and he is expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the failure of the agreement so far.
