Russia’s Putin Pleas For Caution

An Op-Ed In The New York Times

On 9/11/2012 (a date that lives in infamy), Russia’s President Vladimir Putin saw it opportune to address the readers of this famous newspaper with an op-ed titled “A Plea for Caution From Russia/What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria”

Salient Excerpts & Comment

In bullet points (emphasis added):

1.       “Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together.”
[I don’t think we were ever allies with Stalin. Or if it appeared that way, then FDR is to blame.]

2.       “The United Nations’ founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America’s consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.”
[If Putin means by that that a third World War was prevented until today, he might be right. However, the period since 1945 was anything but peaceful. That the U.S. consented to this veto was probably a major mistake of historical proportions.]

3.       “The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries [China & Russia] and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism.”
[Is this some kind of a threat? What does this man want? If he wants to keep the Russian naval base in Syria, there is probably a solution to this. Is this former KGB man even behind some of the global terrorism we experienced in the past 20 years or so?]

4.       “Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy in Syria. But there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government.”
[Orwellian speak! Is it not rather a conflict between a Stalinist, murderous dictator and the citizens of Syria, plus foreign militants? He knows better who is behind the extremists, other Arab countries or Iran. Did not the former Soviet Union help the Baath party to come to power in Syria or Iraq?]

5.       “We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today’s complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos.”
[A very pretentious man.]

6.       “But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.”
[Is it not also Putin’s fault that these outcomes as he describes them have happened? So why did Putin use force against Georgia or Chechnya? Had the U.S. (a weakness of President Bush Jr.) prevented Syria from being a porous border for militants who then killed U.S. soldiers in Iraq, perhaps the world would be a different place.]

7.       “No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect.”
[Putin is the right man to lecture the world about moral values!]

8.       “The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction.”
[This is about as good as had the Allies of World War II convinced Hitler to close all the concentration camps. This a red herring or a delaying plot.]

9.       “And I would rather disagree with a case he [President Obama during his recent address to the nation.] made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”
[This is from Putin’s epilogue. God did not only create us all equal, but also mandated that we oppose leaders like you and President Obama in the cause of humanity and individual freedom.]

Plea To The Russian People

Would you finally rid yourselves from pathetic leaders like this one! The world will be very thankful! I have faith in the Russian people to do much better than that.