By Vestnik Kavkaza
Barack Obama demanded from the Congress an approval of a military operation against Syria, when Washington decided that it was proved the Syrian authorities used a chemical weapon in suburbs of Damascus on August 21th. Meanwhile, Russian experts cannot agree with their “evidence.”
“We have fallen to a very low level of development of arguments and analysis, which explains our military actions which could lead to a wide-scale regional conflict,” Alexander Zotov, ambassador, member of the Council of the Association of Russian Diplomats, says. “The U.S. try to convince the world that the Syrians began to prepare a chemical attack, when the commission came there; and when the commission started working, on August 21st, it happened suddenly. There is no frontline. The suburbs of Damascus are small towns where some militants are hiding in a few buildings; local residents had left them. So, it was necessary to find a muster of people where more than 500 children, 1500 women are and strike at them; of course the commission came and confirmed the fact. It is outrageous.”
Zotov criticized not only Washington, but also Ankata: “The Turks are also surprising in their intention to build the future of the region on the basis of strange evidence. A head of an intelligence service which is close to Turkey says that Erdogan will bring to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg some samples of hair taken from refugees, as if this proves that a chemical weapon was used regularly not in Guta only, but also in other places, and that it is a practice of the Syrian army which is fighting the opposition.”
As a way out, Zotov suggests: “Let’s agree within the G20 summit, discuss everything from all sides; and if it is obvious that one of the sides used a chemical weapon, we will make the guilty side be responsible for its actions. And it won’t necessarily be the Syrian troops. I know the Syrian leaders, people who represent the ruling clans and the military. I think they can be accused of making big mistakes in the initial stages of the Syrian crisis. But I don’t think they are idiots. And this is the biggest idiotism ever – to create a situation favorable for American intervention. And their opponents get what they want – the support of a third force. It is impossible to convince a normal person that it has really happened.”
“The world has fantastically changed,” the advisor of the deputy chairman of the Council of the Federation, Andrey Baklanov, supports Zotov. “Today more than a half of all economic capacity is concentrated in the Asian Pacific Region. Europeans really suffer from this. Europe is not interested in appearance of new powerful competitors, including in the economic sphere. So, they are not interested in reduction of a conflict potential in the Middle East. If a historic compromise between the Arabs and the Jews takes place in the Middle East, do you imagine how these countries can breakthrough? If the atmosphere is more friendly and there are no conflicts, the potential of the region will obviously grow. We have to make serious conclusions, trying to take measures for settling the Syrian crisis and preventing a military operation. If we don’t make systemic conclusions from all we have got, we will permanently have Iraq, Libya, Syria, and so on. Constructive discussions should be initiated, which will lead to core settlements, including a system of monitoring situations in the most vulnerable areas, including mass destruction weaponry. We have completely forgotten about “measures of trust.” They have a great potential of prevention of aggression and conflicts. We should return those good things which we used to have and move forward in the direction.”
“Of course, the American desire to hold a military operation, relying on Congress or not, should be criticized. But the point is not in the fact that this is an American decision. The drawbacks of the decision should be explained clearly, professionally and accessibly,” Professor Leonid Syukiyanen says. “When boys are fighting in a yard, at first people break them up, and only then do they find out who is guilty and who isn't. That’s what we need.
We should work with the United States, whether we want it or not. All major problems in the world are being settled, considering this or that position of the U.S. It is a matter of fact. These are our current international relations. But we should work nevertheless. I would recommend avoiding bright journalistic appraisals which mean nothing in real politics. The public opinion in many countries, including the Arab world, doesn’t know much about the arguments of the Russian position. We underestimate the role of public opinion in many countries. The Americans should be criticized, not because they want a military operation, but because not all diplomatic measures have been used.”
