with additional reports from Voice of Russia, PJ Media
9/4/2013
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| Symbolic. Big Game Predator. |
Just before Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, he blasted the Obama administration on Wednesday for what he termed its propaganda on military action against Syria. “We talk with these people,” he said about Secretary of State John Kerry, the administration’s chief political spokesperson making the case for war. “We assume that they are decent. But he lies. And he knows that he lies. That’s pathetic.”
Putin has always been a bare-knuckles political brawler with a penchant for saying politically incorrect things about enemies -- he once said of Islamist terrorists in Chechnya, for example, “If you are willing to become a radical Islamist and be circumcised, I invite you to Moscow. I will recommend that they perform the operation so that nothing can sprout there again.” Now, however, he’s directly challenging the authority of the United States – and he’s winning. President Obama has always wanted to be perceived as a global leader. Instead, it’s his chief international rival, quasi-dictator Putin, who has seized the reins.
Obama has been left to complain. “Do I hold out hope that Mr. Putin may change his position on some of these issues?” Obama asked in Sweden on Wednesday. “I’m always hopeful, and I will continue to engage him.” Just a few weeks ago, Obama mocked Putin’s posture during their meetings, likening it to a “bored kid in the back of the classroom.”
But it is Obama being schooled. Putin has stated that he would be open to action against Syria if shown proof that Assad ordered the chemical attack there. But on Wednesday, he said of John Kerry, “Of course he lied. And that’s not pretty.”
The G20 summit has been set not around national security issues, but on tax issues and economic recovery. Nonetheless, it will be Putin setting the agenda on his home turf, especially given that the visiting team is led by a floundering quarterback.
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PUTIN: "Kerry Lied. And he knows that he lied. This is sad."
From Voice of Russia, 9/4/2013
When US Secretary of State John Kerry said during a debate in Congress that there was no al-Qaeda in Syria, he was lying, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. Al-Qaeda is one of the main forces supporting the Syrian opposition, Putin said in televised comments at a meeting of Russia's presidential human rights council.
"I watched the debates in Congress. A congressman asks Mr. Kerry: 'Is al-Qaeda there?" He says: 'No, we are telling you responsibly that they are not," Putin said.
"The Syrian rebels' main combat unit is the so-called al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda unit. They [the US] are aware of that. He [Kerry] lied. And he knows that he lied. This is sad," Putin said.
The president added that it was beyond the authority of the US Congress to sanction a military strike on Syria."What are they sanctioning? They're sanctioning aggression, because anything outside the UN Security Council framework is aggression, except for self-defense. But, as we know, Syria is not attacking the US, so this isn't about defense," Putin said.
"This is inadmissible in principle," Putin pointed out that the United States expected that the Syrian rebels would defeat the pro-government troops and US military intervention on the ground would not be needed. But, he said, the Syrian government just a short time ago appeared likely to win the war.
"Why do they [the US] say that not a single US soldier will appear in Syria? Because they think this is unnecessary, that those militants will cope on their own. What they need is support by means and equipment they don't have a planes, missile equipment. This should be given to them. Well, they'll get it, right now," he said.
The Russian president also questioned the reliability of US evidence of the Syrian regime's alleged involvement in conducting a chemical weapons attack late last month that killed civilians.
Putin said it was absurd to assume that the Syrian government would have decided to use such weapons at a point when it was about to defeat its opponents...
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[Russian President Vladimir Putin] accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of outright lying to Congress about al Qaeda’s role fighting on the rebel side of the Syrian civil war. He said, “they lie beautifully, of course. I saw debates in Congress. A congressman asks Mr Kerry: ‘Is al Qaeda there?’ He says: ‘No, I am telling you responsibly that it is not,’”
“Al Qaeda units are the main military echelon, and they know this,” he said, referring to the United States. “It was unpleasant and surprising for me – we talk to them, we proceed from the assumption that they are decent people. But he is lying and knows he is lying. It’s sad.”
Here is the exchange that Putin is referring to:
SEN. JOHNSON: What do we know about the opposition? I mean, what is — have we been tracking them for the last two years? I mean, it seems like — and this is more of an impression I have as opposed to any exact knowledge, but it seems like initially, the opposition was maybe more Western-leaning, more moderate, more democratic, and as time has gone by, it’s degraded, become more infiltrated by al-Qaida. That — is that basically true? Or to — (inaudible) — has that happened?
SEC. KERRY: No, that is — no, that is actually basically not true. It’s basically incorrect. The opposition has increasingly become more defined by its moderation, more defined by the breadth of its membership and more defined by its adherence to some, you know, democratic process and to an all-inclusive, minority-protecting constitution, which will be broad-based and secular with respect to the future of Syria. And that’s very critical.
Kerry provided no evidence to back up his assertion. The rebels themselves appear to have loudly disagreed with it today [by attacking a Christian village]. Our experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Egypt suggest that what Kerry said is far from the truth.
Putin is right, and this is why it’s prudent to be very skeptical of anything the Obama administration is saying. Just today they have been caught out in two HUGE lies related to this war they want — Obama declaring that he didn’t set the “red line,” and Kerry lying about the nature of the rebellion in Syria. These are not small lies, they are large, brazen, in your face lies.
Trust them if you want. I don’t.