Not since the Cuban missile crisis, have U.S. and Russian leaders come to a more dangerous showdown than that over Syria's civil war. One could argue U.S. support for the Mujahideen was a stick in the Soviet's eye, but that was not nearly as direct and in your face as the differences between the U.S. and Russia are presently. Therefore, we're making a concerted effort to stay on top of this story in real time.To avoid missing crucial clues that might offer insight into how this international crisis has developed, we're gonna look at this event from every possible angle.
One could speculate things have gotten personal between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin. In the last 72 hours U.S. media outlets have reported Putin being no more than a common thug and a thief, as he allegedly robbed Robert Kraft, New England Patriots owner of his Super Bowl ring back in 2005.
The incident, as the story is told, occurred in public. Apparently Putin was admiring the ring, an offer was made for him to try it on and supposedly Putin promptly left the building with the ring. Imagine the disgrace of having to deny such a lowly charge. Perhaps the dig was in response to the spectacle the Russians made in the expulsion of an amateurish CIA operative a few weeks back. Crazy Huh?
On the other hand, the Russians responded to the U.S'. claims of Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons, as having no more value than a grain of sand. When responding to the United States' decision to arm the Syrian opposition, Putin was extraordinarily graphic in telling the world the United States and it's allies were arming cannibalistic savages. After the latest verified tale of a 14 year old kid getting his head whacked off for insulting the Prophet Mohammed, we'd be be more than a little wary of some of these folks too.
As this head to head match up continues, the smart money is still with the Russian, Syrian, Iranian line up, as they are united, committed and currently pitching the best narrative; peaceful political solutions to be reach via open negotiations with no preconditions.
As far as the West is concerned, they are literally clueless. The message is murky and the people are unsupportive. Like stumbling blindly, the U.S and its allies have not only lost their way but they've lost their main demand; Bashar-al-Assad has to step down.
Since a senior Russian diplomate is stating the G-8 summit's joint statement on ending the Syrian war will not mention whether Bashar al--Assad has to hit the bricks as a part of any peace agreement, we'd say the Russians won this round.
Again, why the United States adopted its current strategy remains a mystery, but we're determined to solve. We just need a few more pieces of the puzzle to materialize. Stay tuned.
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