The Syrian government over the weekend rushed to accept the cease-fire deal struck by the United States and Russia. On the ground skepticism abounds, as it is entirely uncertain that this deal, as opposed to the ones preceding it from December 2015 and February 2016, will produce the desired change for the Syrian people, who have already sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of refugees to this cruel war that should have ended long ago. Among the sides involved in the conflict, and they are many, the agreement is not inspiring a great deal of faith. The only person who can see it as an achievement is the butcher from Damascus, Bashar Assad. The Syrian president is receiving yet another green light from the American administration to remain in the presidential palace in Damascus. The deal is supposed to be on behalf of the Syrian people as a whole. In actuality, the deal benefits just one Syrian. It appears that U.S. President Barack Obama has given Syria up to Russian President Vladimir Putin; at least that is the feeling today among those involved in the crisis. The deal was hard to achieve, according to reports, because the U.S. and Russia each support a different side in this ongoing war. The long-awaited cease-fire is set to go into effect on Monday, with the beginning of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice (until now there has only been one sacrifice -- the Syrian people). The cease-fire deal will eventually facilitate a humanitarian corridor for the besieged city of Aleppo, whose residents see the agreement, any agreement, as nothing more than a joke. Were it not for the northern city's utter destruction, maybe they would actually laugh. In the meantime, even U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter doesn't believe in the deal, because he simply does not believe the Russians. So how did the Americans sign it regardless? Because Obama does not believe in the Middle East. Some will say he willfully gave up the Middle East in favor of the Far East. However, North Korea's second nuclear test this year alone illustrates how some problems tend to follow you wherever you go. The war in Syria became a war of religion, even though a lot of faith does not exist over there. The problem with the deal isn't only its hidden clauses, which only raise the suspicions of those fighting, but in the definition of "terrorism," which appears quite a bit. The term "terrorist" in Syria has a variety of meanings. Someone seen by the U.S. as a "freedom fighter" is seen by Russia as a terrorist. Assad, meanwhile, whom Russia considers to be the legitimate president, is a terrorist in the eyes of common sense and decency. Incidentally, in the U.S. of old, Assad would have also been considered a terrorist. America has seen better days. The United States and Russia intend (one can dream) to eventually establish a "joint operations center," where they will share intelligence for the purpose of targeting jihadist groups, among them Islamic State and Nusra Front. We aren't there yet, because things in Syria are still far from being clear and simple. The Nusra Front, for example, a former branch of al-Qaida, can testify to the considerable complexities on the ground in Syria. The group, which changed its name this year to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in the hopes of severing its ties with al-Qaida, becoming a legitimate organization and avoiding coalition airstrikes, meets the definition of a terrorist group. Nusra Front, however, has cooperated with "legitimate" rebel groups fighting Assad. Now we must ask the question: How, in a country low on trust, can other rebel groups be expected to turn their backs on Nusra Front, which has also been perceived as part of the rebel force- Moscow is supposed to ensure that Assad's forces stop bombing areas where Nusra Front operates, while Washington, for its part, is supposed to make sure that other rebel groups sever ties with it. It is entirely uncertain whether anyone in Syria today is optimistic enough to believe the Americans are capable of doing this. Neither do the Russians. In the meantime, Assad's forces have killed people in Aleppo with chlorine gas, and dozens more in Idlib on Saturday in the same fashion. Do you remember August 2013, when red lines still existed and we thought Obama would bomb Assad into the history books? Well, Assad is still there, along with the Shiite axis of evil just beyond Israel's northern border. Fate has granted Assad a birthday befitting his character, actions and personality -- Sept. 11. But why did Obama decide to give him a gift that leaves us and the Syrian people stuck with him-
