"All talk of 'transition' is a smoke screen to create a window of one or two years in which the Western powers can develop an open master-client relationship with people who yesterday were Al-Qaeda* and Daesh*. For Western powers, the optics of doing business with gangs and warlords designated as terrorist groups present a problem. This can be got round, however, by pretending to have a 'transition,'" Ford said.
"If we were going to talk seriously about 'transition,' it would be necessary to include groups like the Kurds [who want autonomy], the Druze [who just want to be left alone], the Eastern tribes [who want the proceeds from oil wealth], and, of course, supporters of the Asad regime, including the Baath Party, left behind just as Baathists were left behind in Iraq after Saddam's fall. None of this is going to happen," he said.