He doesn’t believe that Asad will give up his chemical weapons, and he will do any sort of trick in order to conceal them and hide what he has in his stockpiles of death. The Russians have won a big victory over the United States, and they are taking advantage of Europe’s lack of will to use force. And in general, what is all this business about giving up chemical weapons? Can a murderer’s punishment be mitigated by confiscating the pistol that he used to commit murder? What kind of ethical or legal standard is that? Why don’t they even issue an international arrest warrant against al-Assad to bring him to justice in the International Criminal Court? How is he different from Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Milosevic of Yugoslavia?

The Jewish Press » » The Saudis are Trembling – Quietly 9/15/2013

I’ve added the citation to the previous post, but for those involved with strategic analysis in the middle east, it’s worth a careful reading.

My line has been consistent: Russia by way of Putin needs to clean up its Syrian client’s act, and it cannot do that today with deceits, RT cameras, and massive state-controlled media: it needs to become an authentic force, even if or especially if authoritarian and reactionary, for peace and social justice in Syria.  The political cynicism brought to the brutal Assad regime’s state of affairs has steeped in blood and misery long enough for Russian foreign policy to either pivot about or become the familiar old criminal and domestically, internally much loathed state.

All by itself, of course.

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