Two major developments on Syria. First, Defense Secretary Mattis told
the press on Monday that US troops in Syria (and the 13 military bases
they occupy) have no intention to leave
the country. They intend to stay, he said, until the Geneva Process
(which demands that Assad must go) is completed. Second, the BBC has
confirmed that the US struck a deal to allow thousands of ISIS fighters
-- including high-ranking figures -- safe passage out of Raqqa. They
have since scattered to the winds. We are supposed to believe that US
intervention was all about ISIS, but that explanation is almost
impossible to maintain...
