Globe Trot: Another cease-fire underway in Syria

SYRIA: A cease-fire was set to begin at sundown in Syria, but bombardments from government forces already have killed 90 people since the agreement was reached early Saturday.

What’s new about this deal is the United States and Russia have agreed to specific monitoring roles—with the United States pledging to separate U.S.-backed opposition groups from Islamic State militants and its affiliates, while Russia has committed to restraining President Bashar al-Assad’s forces from continuing airstrikes.

What’s not new is the trust issue: Russia and Assad have not been trustworthy partners with the United States in previous negotiations, and the United States has not been trustworthy or successful in working with Syrian opposition groups, or drawing a line between them and the jihadists. For the sake of the Syrian people, though, it’s worth praying for a breakthrough right now.

What continues to be thoroughly perplexing is why the United States and its allies, or the UN or NATO, have not put into place a no-fly zone (favored by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, never favored by President Obama). A no-fly zone saved lives and paved the way for lasting negotiations in Bosnia, argues Muhamed Sacirbey, the former Bosnia foreign minister and delegate to the Dayton Peace Accord negotiations in 1995: “We can help Syrians end this nightmare—we just have to want to.”

ISRAEL and the United States have agreed to a landmark military aid package, but Congress—especially Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.—isn’t going along, accusing the White House of taking over the appropriations process.

INDIA: Christian leaders are appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to curtail violence, as the number of attacks on Christians in 2016—134 recorded—have already surpassed the number recorded in 2014 and 2015.

KENYA: Police killed three would-be assailants, all females, after the women entered a police station to report a stolen phone but appeared to launch a terrorist attack, shouting Islamic slogans while attempting a knife attack and a petrol bomb explosion.

9/11: On Sept. 12 it’s worth reflecting on what didn’t happen on 9/11, and the remarkable real-time diary of President George W. Bush’s day 15 years ago, put together by Politico, includes striking assessments.

Andy Card, upon watching President Bush after he told him America was under attack: “… the responsibility of being president became a reality when I whispered in his ear. I honestly believe as he contemplated what I said, I took an oath. Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. It’s not cutting taxes, it’s not No Child Left Behind, it’s not immigration, it’s the oath. When you pick a president, you want to pick a president who can handle the unexpected. This was the unexpected.”

Russia stood down, with Vladimir Putin agreeing not to put the country’s own military systems on alert once the United States went on military alert.

And remembering Gander, the Canadian town of 10,000 that took in 7,000 stranded jet passengers when U.S. airspace was closed, not counting the cost should one of those jets also be in the hands of terrorists.