Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday branded U.S. support for rebel forces in Syria as illegal and ineffective, saying U.S.-trained rebels were leaving to join Islamic State with weapons supplied by Washington.
In an interview with U.S. networks recorded ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Putin said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad deserved international support as he was fighting terrorist organizations.
Obama and Putin are scheduled to talk on Monday after Putin addresses the United Nations, although White House and Kremlin officials have disagreed on what the two leaders will discuss and even who initiated the meeting.
WNU Editor: I can hear Putin saying this to President Obama in their meeting tomorrow .... 60 Minutes of Putin: Syria’s Assad Combats Terrorism, While US-Backed Fighters Join ISIL (Sputnik).
More News On Russian President Putin's Visit To the U.S. On Monday
Vladimir Putin: Syria has only one lawful army, President al-Assad's army -- Russia Beyond The Headlines
Putin: Russia provides military assistance only to legitimate army of Assad in Syria -- TASS
Assad’s enemies may be portrayed as opposition, but he fights terrorists – Putin -- RT
Putin on upcoming U.N. speech -- CBS
Putin to offer Russian military for fight against ISIS: report -- NYP
Putin says seeking 'coordinated framework' to fight IS -- AFP
Islamist threat forces Putin's hand -- Deutsche Welle
With Putin in the limelight, edgy UN awaits clarity on Russia's Syria move -- Al Jazeera
Vladimir Putin bids for major world role as his forces move into Syria -- The Guardian
On Syria, Putin Is Catering to an Audience at Home -- NYT
Shades of Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteAssad is the 'pyromaniac fireman', claiming legitimacy by fighting the terrorism that he helped create.
ReplyDeleteCaecus
ReplyDeleteAnd in doing so he has turned his country's fate over to others and given what is left of his country away.
I'm impressed with Putin's ability to call a spade a spade in no uncertain terms. He see s through the facade of the so called "moderate" opposition thrownupby the US and its allies. Also Assad and the Baath are the legitimate government of Syria whether anyone over here, in Ankara, Riyahd, Tel Aviv, Paris, Berlin, London, Ottawa etc. Like it or not.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, sitting on their asses pandering to Saudi Arabia while it engages in military interventions in neighbouring countries, commits the most grotesque human rights violations in the region, and supports wahhabi fascists abroad is nothing short of the hypocrisy the majority of the world has grown oh so tired of from the "west". Covering Israel's continued abyssmal treatment of the Palestinians, while crowing about " butcher Assad" also smacks of the type of grotesque transparent dodge we've grow accustomed to from the Atlantic gang.
Putin---Russia---, in short, is calling them on their bullshit in a big-time material way. It's well and truly overdue. There is no doubt that China has his back.
"He see s through the facade of the so called "moderate" opposition thrownupby the US and its allies."
ReplyDeleteThey are no more extreme than the regime and it's allies.
"Also Assad and the Baath are the legitimate government of Syria whether anyone over here, in Ankara, Riyahd, Tel Aviv, Paris, Berlin, London, Ottawa etc. Like it or not."
From what? The Assads got to power in a coup and stayed there by the ruthless application of power. In that case, why would a takeover by the Sunni majority be illegitimate?
"Covering Israel's continued abyssmal treatment of the Palestinians, while crowing about " butcher Assad" also smacks of the type of grotesque transparent dodge we've grow accustomed to from the Atlantic gang."
The Assad regime has killed far more people in 4 years than Israel has in 40. His title is well deserved.
Caecus,
ReplyDeleteMight want to recheck your numbers using "neutral sources".
How far back are we going to go?
ReplyDeleteWhat regime or system can we name without roots in violence, dispossession, revolution etc. This is the point. The people who point fingers at Assad are no better and have neither the moral, historical nor intellectual credibility to criticize, let alone overthrow, that, or any other, government.
That is what a lot of Russia's beef is about...exceptionalism.
A takeover by the Sunni fascists (because that's who would end up in charge) could in no way result in anything more "legitimate" than the Baath. Are far bit less in fact as it would have been the result of multiple breaches of the law in Syria and internationally. Since we here in the west are oh so about the "rule of law".
Furthermore,
It is quite teling that butcher Assad was a great partner when he was helping to detain and torture during the renditions in behalf of the oh so pure as the driven snow west.
So based on the "regime legitimacy" criteria being bandied about on these boards, do we next set the dogs on the Saudis?
ReplyDeleteOr how about that (fascist led) coup inspired government in Kiev?
And as far as numbers go, is a man who murders 10, less onerous or worthy of censure than he who murders 20? Will one be tried and charged and nit the other? What is this obsession with numbers! ? What's next, the oh so nauseating repetiton of the "worse than Hitler" mantra?
ReplyDeleteWhy back Assad? Because, "extreme" as they may be, they are, and will continue to be, the internationally recognized (secular) government of Syria. They will also continue to support the Palestinians... which is a BIG reason why they've been targeted. Dictatorships are cool as long as they're doing what they're told.
Just like apartheid regimes are, incidentally.
For all its warts, Baathist pan Arabism is far and away preferable to Wahhabi fascist throwbacks any day of the week.
ReplyDelete"What regime or system can we name without roots in violence, dispossession, revolution etc. This is the point. The people who point fingers at Assad are no better and have neither the moral, historical nor intellectual credibility to criticize, let alone overthrow, that, or any other, government."
ReplyDeleteAs much as I dislike Western leaders, there is no moral equivalence in between Hollande or Merkel and Assad. To even suggest it shows how silly relativism is. No Western leader is killing thousands of his own citizens per month by indiscriminately targeting them with airstrikes and artillery, or gas. Nor do they run a Soviet-style secret police to disappear political opponents, or teenage draft dodgers.
"That is what a lot of Russia's beef is about...exceptionalism."
No, it's about interests. Russia has its own exceptionalism.
"A takeover by the Sunni fascists (because that's who would end up in charge) could in no way result in anything more "legitimate" than the Baath. Are far bit less in fact as it would have been the result of multiple breaches of the law in Syria and internationally. Since we here in the west are oh so about the "rule of law"."
The great majority of Syrians are Sunni Arabs, it was only a question of time before a rebellion occured. Assad will never rule over Sunni areas again and will eventually have to hide in the coastal regions under Russian protection. He never gained the consent of the governed, and is therefore being ejected. The fact that the Sunnis are usurprisingly not liberal democrats does not mean they are not justified in removing the tyrant.
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ReplyDeleteAnd they don't have to round up draft dodgers or bomb their own citizens (yet) because they have ignorant fascists to do their dirty work for them abroad and there's no revolution on the go--foreign supported or otherwise (yet).
ReplyDeleteSilly relativism. ... tel that to the people of Afghanistan Iraq libya and others well before who had their families and countries blown right out from under them.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Sunni,
Not all Sunni are anti Assad nor are all Syrians sectarian. Past that, there is no "mandate" for Saudi Arabia, the US, Turkey, or anyone else to shovel weapons, supplies etc to this so-called "righteous revolution". It may have been "just a matter of time" but time sure flew when the "aid" came rolling in.
We should also be careful hollering "revolution" from the hills (or minaret) lest we find "ourselves" hanging from our own oligarch, ethnically biased platform.
I love it. "Tyrant, butcher, Hitler" blah blah
But the Saudis, partners in democracy and stability or whatever. The Israelis, paragons of virtue, the Ukrainians, champions of democracy...no secret police repression there.
Russia may have its own exceptionalism but Russia has not been running around the world violating international law bombing and invading foreign coubtries for the past twenty plus years.
I may not like Assad, personally I find him creepy and out of touch with reality, but there's no a single solitary one of those maltreated Sunnis who will be a tad better. Incidentally, I recall Saddam Hussein was Sunni...the Saudis too, no matter I guess. Another cup of cognitive dissonance all around.
What's silly is defending the indefensible based on an exceptionalist outlook.
And being a liberal democrat doesn't amount to the amount of letters it takes to spell it. It is not, nor will it ever be, the litmus test of legitimacy (except in the minds of the indoctrinated) given the state of liberal democracies today.
ReplyDeleteDemocracy is a word that's been and is being used every day to rob people of choices. And if amlnyone thinks the people running things in the so called democracies would react less viciously to a revolution, much less a externally funded one, they've been watching too much Disney.
It is the law of the universe, survival of the fittest, eat or be eaten and for mankind, the only form of lasting government is an oligarchy. Those who rise up in arms and defeat the establishment then become the establishment waiting to be defeated in turn.
ReplyDelete