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Syria: keep an eye on Putin play-acting AGAIN!
by AP via sam - The Hindu Tuesday, Sep 3 2013, 11:16pm
international / prose / post

Putin is a mouse that roars -- over a decade of non-action confirms the reality

Make no mistake, when Putin's "American partners" attack Syria, Putin will make the usual mouse-like protestations and DO NOTHING -- no intervention or direct interference in the U.S. attack when it is clear that the SIno-Russian military pact could stop the US (and NATO combined) in its tracks at any time! So what gives here -- the obvious of course?

Putin

If Putin only makes his USUAL noises but allows the US to run rampant, as it has done in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria etc, without physical intervention from Russia then who does Putin really support?

Never mind his clever posturing and public charades, it is his ACTIONS that determine Truth and Reality, not bullshit, posturing and deception.

Putin is a bought and owned commodity, he is a puppet of the Plutocrats as is Obama and all other western leaders -- FACT! But please do not believe me or anyone else -- keep YOUR EYE on the ball, it's amazing what the 'game' reveals; nothing less than a GLOBAL PLUTOCRACY!

Indeed, moron Bush got something right, it's them (elite tiny minority) or us (the entire world population.) Do YOU like those odds?

Putin warns West against unilateral action on Syria
by AP staff report

President Vladimir Putin warned the West against taking one-sided action in Syria but also said Russia “doesn’t exclude” supporting a U.N. resolution on punitive military strikes if it is proved that Damascus used poison gas on its own people.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press and Russia’s state Channel 1 television, Mr. Putin said Moscow has provided some components of the S-300 air defence missile system to Syria but has frozen further shipments. He suggested that Russia may sell the potent missile systems elsewhere if Western nations attack Syria without U.N. Security Council backing.

The interview on Tuesday night at Mr. Putin’s country residence outside the Russian capital was the only one he granted prior to the summit of G20 nations in St. Petersburg, which opens on Thursday. The summit was supposed to concentrate on the global economy but now looks likely to be dominated by the international crisis over allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in the country’s civil war.

Mr. Putin said he felt sorry that President Barack Obama cancelled a one-on-one meeting in Moscow that was supposed to have happened before the summit. But he expressed hope the two would have serious discussions about Syria and other issues in St. Petersburg.

“President Obama hasn’t been elected by the American people in order to be pleasant to Russia. And your humble servant hasn’t been elected by the people of Russia to be pleasant to someone either,” he said of their relationship.

“We work, we argue about some issues. We are human. Sometimes one of us gets vexed. But I would like to repeat once again that global mutual interests form a good basis for finding a joint solution to our problems,” Mr. Putin said.

The Russian leader, a year into his third term as President, appeared to go out of his way to be conciliatory amid a growing chill in U.S.-Russian relations. The two countries have sparred over Syria, the Edward Snowden affair, Russia’s treatment of its opposition and the diminishing scope in Russia for civil society groups that receive funding from the West.

Mr. Putin said it was “ludicrous” that the government of President Bashar Assad a staunch ally of Russia would use chemical weapons at a time when it was holding sway against the rebels.

“From our viewpoint, it seems absolutely absurd that the armed forces, the regular armed forces, which are on the offensive today and in some areas have encircled the so-called rebels and are finishing them off, that in these conditions they would start using forbidden chemical weapons while realising quite well that it could serve as a pretext for applying sanctions against them, including the use of force,” he said.

The Obama administration says 1,429 people died in the August 21, 2013 attack in a Damascus suburb. Casualty estimates by other groups are far lower, and Mr. Assad’s government blames the episode on rebels trying to overthrow him. A U.N. inspection team is awaiting lab results on tissue and soil samples it collected while in Syria before completing a report.

“If there are data that the chemical weapons have been used, and used specifically by the regular army, this evidence should be submitted to the U.N. Security Council,” added Mr. Putin, a former officer in the Soviet KGB. “And it ought to be convincing. It shouldn’t be based on some rumours and information obtained by special services through some kind of eavesdropping, some conversations and things like that.”

“All these arguments turned out to be untenable, but they were used to launch a military action, which many in the U.S. called a mistake. Did we forget about that?” Mr. Putin said.

Mr. Putin reinforced his demand that before taking action, Mr. Obama needed approval from the U.N. Security Council. Russia can veto resolutions in the council and has protected Syria from punitive actions there before.

Asked what kind of evidence on chemical weapons use would convince Russia, Mr. Putin said “it should be a deep and specific probe containing evidence that would be obvious and prove beyond doubt who did it and what means were used.”

Mr. Putin said it was “too early” to talk about what Russia would do if the U.S. attacked Syria.

“We have our ideas about what we will do and how we will do it in case the situation develops toward the use of force or otherwise,” he said. “We have our plans.”

Mr. Putin called the S-300 air defence missile system “a very efficient weapon” and said that Russia had a contract for its delivery of the S-300s to Syria. “We have supplied some of the components, but the delivery hasn’t been completed. We have suspended it for now,” he said.

“But if we see that steps are taken that violate the existing international norms, we shall think how we should act in the future, in particular regarding supplies of such sensitive weapons to certain regions of the world,” he said.

The statement could be a veiled threat to revive a contract for the delivery of the S-300s to Iran, which Russia cancelled a few years ago under strong U.S. and Israeli pressure.

Mr. Putin praised Mr. Obama as a frank and constructive negotiating partner and denied reports that he had taken personal offence at remarks by Mr. Obama comparing Mr. Putin’s body language to that of a slouching, bored student. Mr. Putin said appearances can be deceiving.

Mr. Putin also accused U.S. intelligence agencies of bungling efforts to apprehend Mr. Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower, who is wanted in the U.S. on espionage charges. He said the United States could have allowed Snowden to go to a country where his security would not be guaranteed or intercepted him along the way, but instead pressured other countries not to accept him or even to allow a plane carrying him to cross their airspace. Russia has granted him temporary asylum.

Mr. Putin also gave the first official confirmation that Mr. Snowden had been in touch with Russian officials in Hong Kong before flying to Moscow on June 23, 2013 but said he only learned that Mr. Snowden was on the flight two hours before it arrived. Mr. Putin once again denied that Russia’s security services are working with Mr. Snowden, whose stay in Russia has been shrouded in secrecy.

On another topic, he denied at length charges that Russia has anti-gay policies, indicating that Mr. Obama was welcome to meet with gay and lesbian activists in Russia during his visit. He even said he might meet with a similar group himself if there is interest from the gay community in Russia.

Mr. Putin rejected the criticism of a Russian law banning gay propaganda that prompted some activists to call for the boycott of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, arguing that it wouldn’t infringe on the rights of gays.

But he clearly has no intention of allowing a gay pride parade or other such actions — Last month, Mr. Putin signed a decree banning all demonstrations and rallies in Sochi throughout the Winter Games.

As for the body language between Mr. Putin and Mr. Obama that some have said suggested a difficult working relationship, the Russian President urged everyone to avoid jumping to conclusions.

“There are some gestures, of course, that you can only interpret one way, but no one has ever seen those kinds of gestures directed by Obama at me or by me at Obama, and I hope that never happens,” he said.

“Everything else is fantasy.”

© 2013, The Hindu

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