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Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-15/everyone-wins-with-new-syria-agreement-except-syrians-.html
New Syria Agreement Is a Big Victory - for Assad
(Bloomberg) Jeffrey Goldberg - The agreement to begin disarming Syria of its chemical weapons represents an astonishing victory for the Assad regime. So long as he doesn't use chemical weapons on his people, he'll be safe from armed Western intervention. It's safe to assume that he'll increase the tempo of attacks on rebels and civilians in conventional ways, knowing now that he can do so with impunity. By partnering with Russia and the West on the disarmament process, a process that is meant to last into 2014 (and most likely won't be finished for years), Assad has made himself indispensable. The U.S. now needs Assad in place for the duration. He's the guy whose lieutenants know where the chemical weapons are. Yet this plan probably won't work. Assad is a lying, murdering terrorist, and such people aren't, generally, reliable partners. Who are the losers in this episode? The Syrian people. So long as they die in conventional ways, no one will pay their deaths much mind.