General David Petraeus has compared the war in Syria to the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty,” saying the country may never reunify.
"It’s increasingly appearing likely that Syria may not be able to be put back together again,” Petraeus, a four-star general and ex-director of the CIA, told NBC News on Wednesday. “Humpty Dumpty has fallen and again I’m not sure you can piece it back together.”
Petraeus’ remarks came a day before Syria’s military said it would scale back the onslaught of Aleppo to allow civilians to evacuate, NBC noted.
Thursday, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura offered to go to eastern Aleppo and escort as many as 1,000 Islamist fighters out of the city, NBC noted.
This move followed 16 days of airstrikes and bombardment that left more than 300 civilians dead as well as hospitals and water supplies in shambles, Sky News noted.
Petraeus spoke of Syria’s leader, saying “He’s certainly trying to extend the areas that he controls to encompass all of Aleppo, which used to be the biggest city in Syria.”
“But it’s unclear how much further he feels he can go. This could certainly put the majority of the population under his control,” he added. “I think it is likely, with agreement or without, you are just going to see a situation develop in which there is a Kurdistan, with considerable autonomy, an Alawite-stan controlled by Bashar (al Assad) and his regime and then areas under control of various Sunni elements.”
“The question is how much they can be made cohesive once the Islamic State and the al Qaeda affiliate are defeated.”
Petraeus resigned as CIA director in 2012 after reports came out that he had shared classified information with his mistress, NBC noted.
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