By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer
 
U.S. and Russian officials are reporting that an agreement has been reached in Munich on an "ambitious” ceasefire plan for the Syrian War, with a goal of ending all armed hostilities in the country within a week, excluding ISIL and Nusra Front territory.
The plan came in the wake of failed UN peace talks, which saw the terrorists demanding an immediate end to all attacks against them, then showing up, then insisting they weren’t there for the peace talks, then after the UN declared a "pause” arguing the talks never really began in the first place.
That, and gains by the Syrian military in Aleppo, added to the push among Western nations to save the "moderate” terrorists by stopping the fighting. Ironically they had long resisted pushes to end the fighting when they thought the terrorists were winning. Few points could be said in this espect:
-The United States and its Arab allies have a bad habit of negotiating, cooperating and making deals with terrorist groups and extremist outfits. That seems almost certain to be the case again in the "Syrian diplomatic negotiations.” The regime changers plan to invite "moderate” militant groups and head choppers - their spawns fighting the Syrian government - to the talks, which in effect is self-defeating and counter-productive.  
-The practice is outrageous. It rewards terrorism and encourages beheading, kidnapping, raping and slavery with unintended consequences. Like it or not, the best way to get the desired outcome in any peace talks is to not negotiate with "moderate” terrorists.
 -True, many governments, especially the European Union, want to end the war and resolve the Syrian refugee crisis as quickly as possible. Yet giving terror groups what they want — partitioning Iraq and Syria on ethnic-sectarian lines under the "Biden Plan” and establishing an "American Caliphate” - is unprecedented.
-Not making concessions to terrorists means not negotiating with terrorists and not communicating with terrorists. The U.S. government cannot do one thing (launching airstrikes against ISIL and Al-Qaeda in Iraq) and do another (inviting the same terrorist groups to the tables and assisting them in Syria) when it comes to diplomatic negotiations.
-There is no way to make peace with those whose only goal is death and destruction.  Maintaining secret backchannels with groups considered terrorists, as well as publicly encouraging negotiation with them goes against international conventions related to terrorism and counter-terrorism laws.
In short, talking with terrorists, at any level and in any way, is fraught with peril. It gives them publicity, equates the civil society with them, and hands them legitimacy. The international negotiators should keep that in mind when they meet again to hold talks on Syria.