Ford's View of the Future

Robert Ford is the last American ambassador to Syria. Speaking yesterday, he stated that extremist groups including some affiliated with al Qaeda are growing within the Syrian opposition. According to Ford, this is making a political solution to the Syrian fighting more difficult. He also said that Assad's days are numbered and that the USA views a political solution as the only way to end the war.

Ford is technically still the ambassador to Damascus, but he was withdrawn both for his safety and as a "punishment" of Assad. When he says that the USA believes that a political solution is the only way to end the fighting, he speaks for the Obama administration. Anyone who was hoping that America might finally help end the fighting needs to get over that hope quickly. Maybe now we should all hope that when Assad uses his chemical weapons, his forces join the other side rather than continue to kill their countrymen.