US goes from bandleader to bystander in Syria peace efforts
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Stung by years of failure to stop Syria's bloodshed, the United States is now but a bystander to the civil war as President Barack Obama leaves office.
Secretary of State John Kerry still is speaking sporadically with Russian, Turkish and Arab foreign ministers about cease-fire efforts and there are occasional consultations with the opposition.
But less two weeks before Donald Trump's presidency begins, the outgoing administration is no longer even claiming to play the leading part in the peace mediation that it spearheaded unsuccessfully for years. Formal contacts with Russia and others in Geneva, the main meeting point for the US-led diplomacy, have ended. Leadership has been ceded to Russia and, to a lesser degree, Turkey and Iran.
