All Eyes on Putin

by Stephen Lendman

He’ll command world attention perhaps like never before when he addresses over 150 other heads of state in New York, attending the General Assembly’s 70th session.

He’ll speak Monday morning at around 11:30AM Eastern Daylight Time - about an hour after Obama’s scheduled 10:30AM address.

Tass said his stay will last about 10 hours. He’ll arrive and leave on the same day. He’ll “present…his vision of the modern situation in the world and ways to resolve the most acute problems.”

RT International said his address will focus on Syria, Ukraine, sanctions, and global economic conditions, “among other pressing issues.” Sputnik News quoted former UK ambassador to Russia Tony Brenton saying Western policy “does seem to be moving the way Putin wants” - a body blow to Washington’s strategy.

He plans one-on-one meetings with several other world leaders - notably Obama, scheduled for about an hour, their first face-to-face detailed discussion in over two years - against the backdrop of failed US efforts to marginalize, weaken and isolate Russia, a reckless, provocative strategy risking direct confrontation, a superpower clash jeopardizing world peace.

New York Times editors bashed Putin irresponsibly ahead of his UN address and meeting with Obama - ignoring his overwhelming domestic public support, the only world leader offering sensible ways to end conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, polar opposite his Western counterparts, aggressors responsible for endless wars.

Times editors lied claiming Putin “openly defied international law and Western sanctions by his annexation of Ukraine and support of rebels in eastern Ukraine.”

Fact: “(A)nnexation of Ukraine?” A rhetorical slip or willful exaggeration perhaps. Russia annexed ZERO Ukrainian territory.

Putin recognizes the sovereignty of all nations, including Ukraine. Crimeans near unanimously voted to join Russia on their own - an international law guaranteed right. Self-determination is inviolable.

So-called “rebels” are courageous freedom fighters. They reject illegitimate fascist rule. They want real democracy. They deserve universal support.

Times editors: Putin’s “backing of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is one reason the Syrian civil war dragged on so long and has created so appalling a humanitarian crisis.”

Fact: Putin responsibly supports Syrian sovereignty under Assad. There’s nothing “civil” about ongoing war.

It’s Obama’s war. He launched it, using imported Islamic State and other takfiri terrorists to do his dirty work. He bears full responsibility for devastating carnage and human suffering throughout the region - and the severest refugee crisis since WW II.

The Washington Post failed to explain Obama’s disastrous Middle East policy in contrast to Putin’s sensible solution gaining traction - the key reason why State Department aides arranged a meeting between the two leaders.

WaPo quoted an unnamed senior Western diplomat saying Putin “is not the one who needs a deal. He has time on his side. It is us who needs a deal more. Whatever happens in Syria, we know that he will probably be part of it.”

Fact: No probability about it. His role is central. His Syrian policy is the only way to combat Islamic State and other takfiri terrorism. As human refugee floods arrive in Europe daily, its leaders perhaps are more receptive to his ideas - polar opposite Washington’s failed policy, an agenda of endless war accomplishing nothing but human suffering.

The Wall Street Journal, a notorious Putin basher, reluctantly admitted he “already made a dramatic return to the world stage.”

He’s the main attraction in New York this week, his stature justifiably earned, Obama consigned to second fiddle status.

Their highly touted meeting pits a geopolitical giant against arguably the worst president in US history - an unindicted war criminal, a disaster by any standard at home and abroad, a reckless leader risking global war.

Ahead of Putin’s General Assembly address, he told CBS’ 60 Minutes “at no time in the past, now or in the future has or will Russia take any part in actions aimed at overthrowing the legitimate government” of any nation.

He urged all countries “to respect the sovereignty of other states, including Ukraine. Respecting the sovereignty means preventing coups, unconstitutional actions and illegitimate overthrowing of the legitimate government” - an undisguised indictment of longstanding US policy.

He justifiably called it “absolutely unacceptable,” a reckless agenda assuring endless conflicts. He “knows for sure” about US tactics in Ukraine - the coup it orchestrated to oust Viktor Yanukovych, installing an illegitimate fascist regime to replace him.

He knows “who had meetings and worked with” Ukrainians involved, “when and where” they took place.

“We know the ways the assistance was provided. We know how much they paid them. We know which territories and countries hosted training and how it was done. We know who the instructors were. We know everything,” Putin explained.

The nonexistent “Russian threat” is used as a pretext for deploying US forces in Eastern Europe and holding large-scale provocative military exercises near its borders.

America’s empire of bases extends globally, a major threat to world peace. Russian military forces are almost entirely internally located - strictly for defense in contrast to America’s endless wars on humanity.

The Financial Times said Putin’s strategy “put the US on the back foot.” He’ll “steal (the) show” in New York. He’s there when Washington’s policy “is in tatters.” He’s the best hope for world peace, America the chief obstacle.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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