In what appears on the surface to be a major change in attitude by the US towards Russia Secretary of State John Kerry has in the last couple of days been to Moscow to talk with senior Russian officials and President Vladimir Putin. Mike Whitney a US writer based in Washington State claims that the war in Syria is one that Russia has to fight and win. There is no alternative he writes in an article from Information Clearing House:
Would you be willing to defend your country against a foreign invasion? That’s all Putin is doing in Syria. He’s just preempting the tidal wave of jihadis that’ll be coming his way once the current fracas is over. He figures it’s better to exterminate these US-backed maniacs in Syria now than face them in Chechnya, St Petersburg and Moscow sometime in the future. Can you blame him? After all, if Washington’s strategy works in Syria, then you can bet they’ll try the same thing in Beirut, Tehran and Moscow.
So what choice does Putin have? None. He has no choice. His back is against the wall. He has to fight. No one in Washington seems to get this. They think Putin can throw in the towel and call it “quits” at the first sign of getting bogged down. But he can’t throw in the towel because Russia’s facing an existential crisis. If he loses, then Russia’s going to wind up on the same scrap heap as Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya. You can bet on it. So the only thing he can do is win. Period. Victory isn’t an option, it’s a necessity.
Do you think that Putin and his advisors have had their heads in the sand for the last 15 years, that they haven’t noticed the US rampaging around the globe bumping off one country after the other leaving behind nothing but anarchy and ruin? Do you think they don’t know that Russia is on the top of Washington’s hit-list? Do you think they haven’t noticed NATO inching closer to Russia’s borders while foam-at-the-mouth politicians in Washington wave their fists and growl about Hitler Putin and evil Russia?
Of course they’ve noticed. Everyone’s noticed. Everyone knows Washington is on the warpath and its leaders have gone stark raving mad. How could they not notice?
Maybe the US has been caught out with so much of their action in Syria appearing to be ineffective in stopping ISIS and compared to the Russian effort that has apparently been very effective in so little time by comparison that the US faces major embarrassment should the current stance continue
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts writes in his own column preceding the announcement of this news:
Has Kerry Gained An Upper Hand Over Neocon Nuland?
Eric Zuesse offers his take on US Secretary of State Kerry’s concession of neocon positions toward Russia in his meeting yesterday with Russian leaders. Kerry was very agreeable and complimentary toward the Russian government in the recent meeting in Moscow. The puzzle is why Kerry allowed neocon Assistant Secretary Victoria “rhymes with witch” Nuland to accompany him to meetings with such important people as Lavrov and Putin. Nuland is the criminal who arranged the overthrow of the democratically elected government in Ukraine and has full responsibility for the many thousands of lost lives in the Russian provinces of Ukraine and for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Lavrov and Putin kept their cool, and Putin even shook hands with the “rhymes with witch.” There are different speculations as to why Nuland was present, ranging from keeping a neocon watch on Kerry to Kerry making Nuland eat crow. According to Zuesse, one of Kerry’s team has an “expression as if to say, ‘Victoria can’t be enjoying this eating-of-crow.’” Don’t count the neocons down and out. These evil people are connected to the rogue US black ops gangsters, and Kerry is not. The vipers will strike back.
So maybe there are other reasons why there appears to be a possible softening in US stance and acceptance that the Russian position is the only one that can be advanced with any probable success