An open letter to President Putin:
Dear Vlad the Impaler:
The ostensible objectives of your Syria policy are to maintain Russian influence and to prevent the rise of Islamic extremist groups. Your unspoken objective is to cause trouble for the US, just to prove you can, for old time’s sake.
Your policy has been a disaster for Russia. By offending the Saudis, you have driven down the cost of oil and crippled your economy. IS is thriving. And your guy is losing.
In spite of what you may think, we honestly don’t care if you keep your influence in Syria, because the Cold War is over, and your side lost. We just want an end to IS and to the regime’s human rights violations. It would be nice if we could cut the cord between Iran and Hezbollah, but that is not necessarily a deal-breaker for us.
We can make an agreement that is in both sides’ interests if you are willing to dump Assad and replace him with someone cleaner. Are you on board?
Waiting for your call, I am
Cromwell