Mirly option

His pen gave out the amazing clarity of the mind and the game of imagination, which is more likely to people young and fascinated. And he was already far over 80 ...

Georgy Ilyich Mirsky, who left us on January 26, was not just an authoritative knowledgeable expert-child. Over the past few years, that we had a chance to communicate regularly - one is the editor, the other is a permanent author and columnist NT - I finally became convinced: he is from the disappearing breed of people. There are fewer and less such and less in modern Russia with its pop, riotous anthem, and soon, probably, it will not remain at all ...

Despite the loud name and demand, Mirsky adhered to an iron life rule: he said - he did. That is, wrote. Often - with a advance of the schedule - and then it was clear that the topic excites it especially, that all the words have already developed, lined up in a row inside, in his soul, and it remained only to entrust them with paper. Or he refused right away - so as not to fool the magazine head with empty promises. Such authors are reliable, conscientious, exactly, as in the top ten, falling into the essence of the topic - for any edition for its weight in gold. It worked easily with him. His pen gave out the amazing clarity of the mind and the game of imagination, which is more likely to be young and fascinated. But he was already far from 80 ...

His last column in NT (No. 38 of November 15, 2015) was called “Syrian Labyrinth: Entrance and Exit” that a normal sensible person would have to do if he had to plan military operations in Syria. Having examined the three options for actions - complete non -interference, “bomb, then stop and leave”, and military assistance without bombing, but with the condition of a change of power, the author chose the third option:

“Having weighed everything, I would have limited myself to the sending of an impressive amount of equipment, all types of military equipment, ammunition with a large number of instructors, advisers and special forces in addition to the help of Putin.

And the main goal would be set to do everything so that the territory controlled by our Syrian ally - that is, about 20% of the territory of Syria - has become an impregnable bastion .... Tactical tasks: to keep Damascus, Homs, Hama, Latakia Province - the native land of the Alavites, and if possible, to master Aleppo. Turn it all into a fortified area, guaranteeing the Alavites that they will not be abandoned to their fate. But at the same time, it is firmly to tell Assad that he and his team time to look for a replacement from among the alavites who did not stain his hands with blood. And thereby open the path to negotiations with a moderate opposition about the coalition transition government. The opposition will take such a plan if it sees that the case of the honor of the Russian leadership is to maintain the territory that the ruling (if it can still be called the ruling) is not controlled by the sake of himself, but for the sake of preserving Syrian statehood.

And I would not bomb. But I do not decide ... "

Now these words of the worldly sound as a kind of will ...

Russia is more and deeper in the inters -Siri conflict, and the prospects for political settlement hardly cleared up, taking into account the multi -vector interests of not only the direct participants in the conflict, but also the regional powers standing behind them. So the next round of intersiral negotiations under the auspices of the UN had to be postponed-because of the obvious unpreparedness of the parties to the search for a compromise.

So, quite possibly, it is to the “version of the worldly”, as the most realistic, to the Russian leadership will have to return to get out of the Syrian boiler.

The texts of George Mirsky can be read here

Photo: svoboda.org