President Putin Outflanks Obama Again, with Open Letter to the U.S. Population
President Vladimir Putin's op-ed published in the New York Times Wednesday, represents another major, masterful initiative by the Russian government, with the potential for further shifting the world situation toward war avoidance, and beyond.
Under the title "A Plea for Caution from Russia," Putin directly addressing the American people and their political leaders. He notes that Americans have stood together against the Nazis, and came together in the United Nations, which has "underpinned the stability of international relations for decades."
A strike against Syria by the U.S., bypassing the UN, would be destructive in numerous ways, he said. It would result "in more innocent victims," potentially spread the violence far beyond Syria, and "unleash a new wave of terrorism."
He then reiterates some of the realities in Syria, which Americans seldom hear: the fact that the government is fighting al-Qaeda, that mercenaries from Arab countries are joining them, and that "there is every reason to believe [the poison gas] was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored."
Putin goes on to point out the ineffectiveness of the U.S. trying to solve crises by military interventions, but most importantly, the violation of international law will only lead to more violence. "We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement."
He says how he appreciates Obama's "interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria," and how this collaboration can "strengthen mutual trust." However, Putin must disagree with Obama's argument in his national address Sept. 10 about American exceptionalism, concluding instead, "We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal."
The exceptionalism of which Obama spoke, of course, was not American at all, but the alleged right of his administration to violate international law. His bluff has been called.
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