Between The Lines Of Putin's Letter
Updated: 3:04pm UK, Thursday 12 September 2013
By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor
The Russian President has again seized the initiative with his opinion piece in the New York Times in which he speaks "directly to the American people and their political leaders".
By the latter I assume he means members of Congress and not President Barack Obama.
He makes a tightly argued, albeit debatable, case against US air strikes on Syria and pushes several buttons designed to resonate with the American people and political class:
(Text of Putin article in italics, comments by Tim Marshall in bold):
"The potential strike by the United States against Syria ... will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders."
He then says the pre-Second World War version of the UN became irrelevant and collapsed, hinting that unless everything Syria related goes through the UN, it will suffer the same fate.
This is a riposte to the White House view that unless the UN signs up to action against Syria, it too will become irrelevant:
"No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorisation."
There follows a long section listing the dangers of a military intervention:
"The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the Pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders.
"A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilise the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance."
There are references to the al Qaeda-inspired groups operating in Syria made up of thousands of foreign fighters, and then a sentence which will sit uncomfortably with many Americans:
"Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan 'you're either with us or against us'."
He backs that up with references to three countries in the following paragraph - Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq - saying that intervention there has made things worse:
"But force has proved ineffective and pointless."
There is a hint that if the USA restrains itself in Syria, then Russia might cooperate elsewhere:
"If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues. My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust."
That might come as a surprise anyone who has seen the body language between the two men recently.
Finally, he takes on the argument made by President Obama about American "exceptionalism" - the idea that the US is the indispensable nation or, in layman's terms, the world's policeman:
"I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States' policy is 'what makes America different. It's what makes us exceptional'. It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation."
The article ends by telling us that Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia. The V? It stands for Vladimirovich.
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