Bloomberg Business quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the talks in Vienna as the international community convenes to discuss Assad’s control of Syria:
Fred Hof, the State Department’s former adviser on Syria, says that approach is misguided at best. “The Vienna initiative seeks to substitute a process for acting against rampant regime criminality,” said Hof, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington policy group.
A second round of the Vienna talks shouldn’t take place until the Assad regime stops bombing attacks and sieges against civilians, Hof said in an interview. Before engaging in further talks, the U.S. and its allies should establish “a comprehensive, collective strategy,” he said.