The 10 Winners And Losers Of The U.S.-Russian Deal On Syria’s Chemical Weapons

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) speaks next to UN Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi (C) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Photo by Reuters

The Tally -- Aaron David Miller, Foreign Policy

From Putin to pundits, here are the 10 winners and losers of the U.S.-Russian deal on Syria’s chemical weapons.

There is a fair amount in the recently concluded U.S.-Russian framework agreement on Syria's chemical weapons that could belong in the domain of the tooth fairy. But should the accord be implemented, it would validate Woody Allen's philosophy about life, slightly amended and applied to diplomacy: Success isn't just about showing up, it's showing up at the right time.

All the chatter about how the Obama administration could have interceded earlier in a more robust way -- arming and training the opposition, creating no-fly zones -- and produced a substantially different outcome remains just that. Saying that the president's aversion to doing more created a self-fulfilling prophecy of lost opportunities, needless human misery, and gains for the bad guys misses a fundamental point.

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My Comment: There are no winners in this U.S.-Russian deal on Syria’s chemical weapons .... the war will continue and more Syrians will be killed .... and the outcome will still be the same .... a deeply fractured and destroyed Syria with sectarian hatred in the air for the next few generations.