John Kerry on Syria - "a moment of truth"
Kerry gave a powerful speech at the UN today saying that for the international community this is a moment of truth on Syria. Though I guess it should not surprise me, the NYT covered it including the comments against Assad and Russia. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/world/middleeast/john-kerry-syria.html?_r=0 ) Their except is a powerful indictment as was his call to ground ALL planes over Syria. What was more powerful though is that coverage elsewhere shows that blame was not limited to those forces. Edited to say the current NYT article now is far more complete. It might be they filed the first as he spoke including the very early part that they included.
USA Today reports, the following comment:
He called the current moment in the Syrian civil war "a moment of truth" for the international community, Russia, Assad and the opposition and its international supporters.
"For too long the opposition has been in an unholy alliance with al Nusra," Kerry said. It's an organization "that overtly rejects a political solution to this crisis and is an enemy to all of us in this room. So its a moment of truth the international community as well," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/09/21/john-kerry-syria-humanitarian-aid/90779922/
I haven't had the chance to read or listen to the whole speech, but it is on the front page of state.gov From the excerpts, this sounds like a classic John Kerry speech, speaking from his gut. It has been interesting that our allies - as the ceasefire has completely been blown up -- have argued that it is the only came in town.