Back to Square One, Obama Says Assad Must Go — Jessica Desvarieux interviews Vijay Prashad

After Vienna international talks created a political transition in Syria, Trinity College's Vijay Prashad says Obama's pre-condition that Assad must go is lock in step with Turkish and Saudi interests…

VP: What the Russians have done is they've suddenly put pressure on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, saying we are now inside Syria. Any attempt at hitting us is going to have repercussions for you. So rather than in a sense saying okay, let's assume that your presence there has made regime change impossible, what's the next diplomatic step? Rather than do that, of course, the United States has strengthened or given false hope to the Qataris, Turks, and the Saudis.

So I would say the first thing is to remove that false hope, come back to the table, produce some kind of regional dialog, you know, for the proxy armies to begin to draw down their sense that they can win. You know, what has continued this war, in fact since July of 2011, is the assumption among some of the rebels and the proxy armies that eventually the American bombers are going to come in and Libya-style they're going to knock out the Assad army.

So this false hope, I think, has dragged this war on. I think that needs to be withdrawn. Without the withdrawal of that false hope, there will be no regional settlement. There will be no political solution. Because there is no way, really, to confront groups like ISIS unless the chaos in the rest of Syria is brought down a few notches.

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Back to Square One, Obama Says Assad Must Go

Jessica Desvarieux interviews Vijay Prashad, George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College