{"article":{"id":291697,"heading":"Putin: The Preeminent World Leader","author":"Stephen Lendman","created":"2015-10-11 09:58:01","modified":"2015-10-11 09:58:01","last_modified":"Sun, 11 Oct 2015 16:58:01","article":"<p>Putin: The Preeminent World Leader <br><br> by Stephen Lendman <br><br> On September 30, a new chapter in East-West relations began. Ten days that shook the world followed, many more to come, good guys taking the initiative. <br><br> Putin&rsquo;s righteous anti-terrorism mission changed Middle East geopolitics decisively, a defining moment in recent history, putting Russia in charge of calling the shots in Syria with perhaps Iraq to follow if Baghdad requests help. <br><br> It looks increasingly likely after many Iraqi parliamentarians urged it, and PM Haider al-Abadi said he &ldquo;welcomes&rdquo; it. Washington appears caught flat-footed after this momentous turn of events, shifting the balance of power dramatically. <br><br> Obama officials have no effective way to counter Putin&rsquo;s intervention - a supremely just cause against the scourge of terror, achieving major successes already. Putin clearly has the moral, ethical and legal high ground. He deserves universal support. <br><br> Washington can do no more than repeat new versions of tired old Big Lies. They fell flat long ago, equally ineffective now.  <br><br> Earlier claims of nonexistent &ldquo;Russian aggression&rdquo; shifted to ludicrously saying Putin is helping ISIS, increasing its strength, largely bombing (nonexistent) anti-Assad moderates, and making a bad situation worse. <br><br> He&rsquo;s done more to crush ISIS and other takfiri terrorists in 10 days than America in over a year of daily bombing. Why? Because Washington uses ISIS and other terrorist groups as foot soldiers. US warplanes bomb Syrian infrastructure sites and other targets, including military ones. <br><br> Washington&rsquo;s claim about waging war on terrorism is a complete fabrication. It&rsquo;s aiding and abetting it in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Now for the first time its hegemonic agenda is being challenged, hugely effectively so far. <br><br> Obama is a war criminal, a shameless demagogue, a serial liar. Ahead of his 60 Minutes interview to be broadcast Sunday night, October 11, CBS News published some of his remarks, his usual duplicitous rubbish, polar opposite hard truths. <br><br> Obama: &ldquo;Mr. Putin now is devoting his own troops, his own military, just to barely hold together by a thread his sole (regional) ally.&rdquo; <br><br> Fact: Russia&rsquo;s relations with Syria go back over half a century. Unlike America, Putin respects the sovereign independence of all nations, including Syria, and the right of citizens alone to decide who&rsquo;ll lead them - for sure no foreign powers. <br><br> Putin has good relations with numerous Middle East countries. He urges mutual cooperation among all nations, advocating multi-world polarity - entirely opposite US policy. <br><br> Obama: &ldquo;Russia&rsquo;s (involvement) in Syria is a sign of weakness, not strength.&rdquo; <br><br> Fact: Putin&rsquo;s intervention is hugely important, a potential game-changer. Washington has no way to challenge it, Obama restricted largely to ad hominem attacks, meaningless efforts exposing &ldquo;his&rdquo; weakness. <br><br> Russia Insider published remarks by well-known Russian journalist Vladimir Mamontov regarding Putin&rsquo;s Syrian mission. A sampling: <br><br> &ldquo;Our opponents (mainly US ones) will go above and beyond their usual efforts to &lsquo;prove&rsquo; that we are bombing the wrong people and that we are &lsquo;bombing civilians or moderate opposition.&rsquo; What do we have to say to that? - With all due respect, ladies and gentlemen, piss off!&rdquo; <br><br> &ldquo;Assessing the validity of the oxymoron &lsquo;military positions of the moderate opposition&rsquo; will now be the responsibility of the Russian armed forces, who will gladly take over the task from the chattering classes.&rdquo; <br><br> &ldquo;Projecting power with our armed forces beyond our borders is from now on going to be a daily reality for Russian foreign policy, joining that other pillar of Russian power, our nuclear deterrent&rdquo; - a direct challenge to Washington imperial agenda.  <br><br> In Syria, Russia is &ldquo;acting in the strictest possible compliance with international law. This returns Russia to the moral high ground.&rdquo;  <br><br> &ldquo;Claims about &lsquo;Assad&rsquo;s tyranny&rsquo; have become meaningless because he is fighting (with the support of our Air Force and Iran which is in a new phase of cooperation and rapprochement with the West) against those who decapitate Christians and other ordinary civilians.&rdquo; <br><br> &ldquo;Russia is waging a (vitally important) pre-emptive war in Syria&rdquo; against terrorism. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about time! Guys, be careful, and fly with the angels!&rdquo; <br><br> Putin&rsquo;s mission reflects his good v. Obama&rsquo;s evil intentions. Humanity supports him. He&rsquo;s the most important figure on the world stage today, a true peace champion, unlike bipartisan neocon lunatics infesting Washington. <br><br> Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net\" rel=\"nofollow\">lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.  <br><br> His new book as editor and contributor is titled \"Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.\" <br><br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/a> <br><br> Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.  <br><br> Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. <br><br> It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. <\/p>\n","contact":"lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net","link":"sjlendman.blogspot.com","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Putin","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2015\/10\/291697.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}