Putin Speaks Out on Syria

by Stephen Lendman

Russia emphatically opposes war on Syria. Throughout months of conflict, it's gone all out to prevent further escalation.

With China, it vetoed three Security Council resolutions to do so. Putin and Obama represent opposing doctrines.

Putin supports peace and stability. He believes nation-state sovereignty is inviolable. He affirms UN Charter and other fundamental rule of law principles.

Obama thrives on violence. He supports America's divine right of intervention. He's waging multiple direct and proxy wars. He's doing so lawlessly. He spurns international, constitutional and US statute laws.

He does so unaccountably. He does it to advance America's imperium. He's heading for war on Syria. He's doing so despite strong public sentiment opposition.

He ignores it. He's circumventing Congress. His way alone matters. He's governed that way throughout his tenure. He threatens world peace. It doesn't matter. Imperial priorities count most.

Putin harshly criticized America earlier. He did so forthrightly. In February 2007, he addressed the 43rd annual Munich Conference on Security Policy.

He pulled no punches calling US foreign policy "very dangerous (in its) uncontained hyper-use of force - military force - in international relations, force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts."

US imperialism "overstep(s) national borders in every way."

"(U)nilateral illegal actions have not resolved any single problem. They have become a hotbed of further conflicts."

"We are seeing increasing disregard for the fundamental principles of international law."

"No one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them."

"Of course, such a policy stimulates an arms race. The dominance of force inevitably encourages a number of countries to acquire weapons of mass destruction."

Putin addressed America's responsibility for a "unipolar world." He called it one "in which there is one master, one sovereign."

"And at the end of the day, this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within."

"We are constantly being taught about democracy. But for some reason those who teach us do not want to learn themselves."

America deplores democracy. It does so at home and abroad. It's intolerant of what it claims to support.

On August 31, Russia Today (RT) headlined: "Putin: US should present Syria evidence to Security Council," saying:

Putin called claims about Syria using chemical weapons on its own people "utter nonsense." He challenged America to come clean. Present verifiable evidence. Put up or shut up.

"If there is evidence it should be shown," he said. "If it is not shown, then there isn't any."

He called Washington's tactic a clear "provocation." It "bas(es) its proposed strategy of an attack on Syria on the premise that President Bashar Assad