US to blame for Syria talks failure: Ex-US Senator

A former US Senator says that the failure of the recent II talks to find a political solution for the crisis in Syria was the United States’ fault.

“We have to appreciate that the failure of the talks was our responsibility. What we did was insist that [Syrian President Bashar] Assad leave office,” said former US Senator Mike Gravel in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday.

“And so it is our policy, the [US President Barack] Obama policy that there should be a change of leadership [in Syria]. Well, obviously the leadership is not going to negotiate its own demise,” he added.

Gravel was referring to the position by the US and its allies as well as the foreign-backed Syrian opposition that President Assad must step down.

The demand was made again in the recent Geneva II talks in Switzerland in January.

The Syrian government and foreign-backed opposition as well as dozens of nations participated in the event; but, the meeting ended with no concrete results on January 31.

The Syrian government rejected the demand that President Assad step down, arguing that the foreign-backed Syrian National Coalition (SNC), which was present in the Geneva II talks, does not represent the Syrian opposition.

Gravel described the US policy vis-à-vis Syria as “ridiculous” and explained how the US has been supplying weapons to the militants operating inside Syria.

The former American Senator noted that some of the militants are “part of al-Qaeda.”

“I mean our policy is truly ridiculous on all scores,” he concluded.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011.