[quote=Blogstar]I feel stronger now about the possibility that, behind the scenes, Russia and the U.S. are attempting to negotiate a mutually tolerable power structure in Syria. Assad may go out by (clandestine) agreement between the two powers. Not sure how all that would look if it happens. It seems much preferable to the current trends, so I hope it happens.[/quote]

I agree it’s preferable, but I think it’s a pipe dream. That’s essentially what happened in Egypt, with the military taking the role of interim government. With the >100,000 strong FSA, and maybe just as many or more Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham forces standing in opposition to the current Assad military, any agreement brokered by external parties is problematic. The Syrian population just doesn’t have the strong nationalism that is present in the Egyptian population. It is, unlike Egypt, nothing more than somewhat arbitrary lines on a map drawn less than 100 years ago and encompasses dozens of tribes and cultures. Absent those lines, there is no there, there.