4 New Messages
Digest #4786
Messages
Sun Aug 25, 2013 7:33 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.presstv.
Press TV
August 25, 2013
US criticized for Manning, Bales penalties
Audio at URL above
An American anti-war activist Saturday criticized the US justice system for considering same penalties for two former US soldiers who committed totally different crimes: one “exposed” war crimes and the other “perpetrated” them.
Rick Rozoff was referring to Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, who got 35 years in prison on Wednesday for handing a massive cache of sensitive government files to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, and Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who was sentenced life in prison on Friday for the killing of 16 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, last year.
“The fact that the two sentences of the two US servicemen occurred within a week, and that one was sentenced to 35 years for exposing a war crime and an atrocity and the other is given life in prison without a chance of parole for perpetrating one of the worst crimes suggests that the US considers exposing war crimes to be on the same level as perpetrating them,” Rozoff told Press TV.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International have slammed the Manning’s punishment. The former soldier is viewed by many in America as a hero who exposed the inner workings of US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the 700,000 files leaked by Manning was a video of a 2007 US helicopter attack in Baghdad that reportedly killed a dozen civilians including a Reuters cameraman and his driver.
However, in the Bales case, at least 48 Afghan children were impacted by the incident.
“Forty-eight children directly impacted by Sergeant Bales action - murdered, injured, witness to a murder, or left fatherless by Staff Sergeant Robert Bales,” prosecutor Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Morse said during the court martial.
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Press TV
August 25, 2013
US criticized for Manning, Bales penalties
Audio at URL above
An American anti-war activist Saturday criticized the US justice system for considering same penalties for two former US soldiers who committed totally different crimes: one “exposed” war crimes and the other “perpetrated” them.
Rick Rozoff was referring to Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, who got 35 years in prison on Wednesday for handing a massive cache of sensitive government files to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, and Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who was sentenced life in prison on Friday for the killing of 16 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, last year.
“The fact that the two sentences of the two US servicemen occurred within a week, and that one was sentenced to 35 years for exposing a war crime and an atrocity and the other is given life in prison without a chance of parole for perpetrating one of the worst crimes suggests that the US considers exposing war crimes to be on the same level as perpetrating them,” Rozoff told Press TV.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International have slammed the Manning’s punishment. The former soldier is viewed by many in America as a hero who exposed the inner workings of US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the 700,000 files leaked by Manning was a video of a 2007 US helicopter attack in Baghdad that reportedly killed a dozen civilians including a Reuters cameraman and his driver.
However, in the Bales case, at least 48 Afghan children were impacted by the incident.
“Forty-eight children directly impacted by Sergeant Bales action - murdered, injured, witness to a murder, or left fatherless by Staff Sergeant Robert Bales,” prosecutor Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Morse said during the court martial.
============
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Sun Aug 25, 2013 7:33 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://en.rian.
Russian Information Agency Novosti
August 25, 2013
Russian MP Says Obama ‘Clones’ Bush in Drive For War
MOSCOW: The United States is moving towards war with Syria, a senior Russian lawmaker said Sunday lashing President Barack Obama as “clone” of George W. Bush in his drive for war.
“Obama is restlessly heading towards war in Syria like Bush was heading towards war in Iraq. Like in Iraq, this war would be illegitimate and Obama will become Bush’s clone,” Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Russian lower house’s international committee, said on Twitter.
His remarks came after US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday the White House is studying different military options against Syria.
"President Obama has asked the Defense Department to prepare options for all contingencies. We have done that and we are prepared to exercise whatever option - if he decides to employ one of those options," Reuters quoted Hagel as saying.
The unrest in Syria began in March 2011 and later escalated into a civil war. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the UN.
Syria’s information minister said on Saturday that any US-led military action against the regime would be “no picnic.” "US military intervention will create a very serious fallout and a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East," Syria's official SANA news agency quoted Omran Zoabi as saying.
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Russian Information Agency Novosti
August 25, 2013
Russian MP Says Obama ‘Clones’ Bush in Drive For War
MOSCOW: The United States is moving towards war with Syria, a senior Russian lawmaker said Sunday lashing President Barack Obama as “clone” of George W. Bush in his drive for war.
“Obama is restlessly heading towards war in Syria like Bush was heading towards war in Iraq. Like in Iraq, this war would be illegitimate and Obama will become Bush’s clone,” Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Russian lower house’s international committee, said on Twitter.
His remarks came after US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday the White House is studying different military options against Syria.
"President Obama has asked the Defense Department to prepare options for all contingencies. We have done that and we are prepared to exercise whatever option - if he decides to employ one of those options," Reuters quoted Hagel as saying.
The unrest in Syria began in March 2011 and later escalated into a civil war. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the UN.
Syria’s information minister said on Saturday that any US-led military action against the regime would be “no picnic.” "US military intervention will create a very serious fallout and a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East," Syria's official SANA news agency quoted Omran Zoabi as saying.
============
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Sun Aug 25, 2013 7:33 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.civil.
Civil Georgia
August 23, 2013
Alasania on NATO, Ties with Russia and Internal Politics
Tbilisi: Defense Minister, Irakli Alasania, said he expects active discussions to start later this year and early in 2014 about specifics of what should be “next step” on Georgia’s path to NATO integration in the context of NATO summit in 2014.
“Georgia’s aspiration is to become a member of NATO and thus far we demonstrated and we will demonstrate again in upcoming presidential election that we deserve to be adequately assessed and adequately responded [by NATO allies in respect] of future integration process,” Alasania said while speaking at a public event organized by Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University on August 21.
Alasania, who is visiting Washingto
Alasania said “not acting” and not providing sufficient help to aspirant countries in their efforts to pave the way towards eventual membership would send a “wrong signal” to Russia.
“We have to demonstrate that Russia does not have any say in relationship between NATO and Georgia,” he said. “We will have exemplary [presidential] election [on October 27] that will demonstrate that we are ready for the next step for integration.”
What this next step might be, he said, has yet to be defined.
In April PM Ivanishvili said
Alasania also said on August 21 in Washington that there’s no need to create over inflated expectations from NATO summit in 2014. He, however, also said that after meetings with the North Atlantic Council after its visit to Georgia in June, he’s optimistic that NATO allies too were aware of the need to offer Georgia specific steps.
While speaking about this issue he mentioned that “we have to wait for elections in Georgia and also in Germany” and then start determining what this next step of integration might be.
In his remarks Alasania stressed Germany’s role in Georgia’s EU and NATO integration as very important.
“We are investing a lot in relationship with Germany. We are also thinking about working jointly with Germans in north of Afghanistan in post-ISAF [mission], under their command,” Alasania said.
On NATO integration, Alasania also said that membership in the Alliance was Georgia’s current government’s “top foreign policy and security priority”; he also said that it was already decided by the North Atlantic Council to make Georgia part of the NATO Response Force in 2015; he said this decision “speaks of itself how much Georgian troops and Georgian defense is valued.”
During his presentation, Alasania also noted that the role of previous governments in achieving the progress Georgia now has should also be acknowledged.
“The Georgia which we see today is hard work of a lot of people in the previous administrations. The first president was someone who brought Georgia the independence, President [Eduard] Shevardnadze was the first one who actually started talking about NATO and the future of Georgia in NATO. Then the third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, made all the efforts to make this progress and a lot of new initiatives were started to integrate more closely and to modernize Georgia'
Commenting on these remarks by the Defense Minister, President Saakashvili said on August 23 that Alasania “is really the most adequate minister in the current government."
Alasania also said that despite of difficulties, political cohabitation was made possible in Georgia. “No matter that we all made mistakes of course – and there was a lot of emotions flowing after the elections, but I think things are now settled,” he said.
U.S.-Georgia Defense Cooperation
Alasania spoke at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute right after his bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon on August 21.
He said that he discussed with Secretary Hagel how “to expand our military-to-
He said that before acquiring defense capabilities
“We want to invest more [in] training, education, infrastructure and logistics so that we can sustain the defense capabilities that we will acquire” from the U.S. or from elsewhere, Alasania said.
During the presentation, Alasania also said: “The state of Georgian defense is not that weak as some people are alluding.”
Ivanishvili’s Intended Pre-Term Resignation ‘Not a Tragedy’
Asked if he thought that PM Ivanishvili’s statement about intended pre-term resignation would cause political uncertainty, Alasania responded: “As a partner, as an ally I urge Bidzina Ivanishvili not to do that.”
“But on the other hand from the very beginning he was saying that he was not intending to stay [in government] for a long time and we felt that at certain point he would be talking about this. So this time has arrived. We do not know yet exactly how it will work out,” Alasania said.
He, however, also said that Ivanishvili’s pre-term resignation would “not be a tragedy.”
“It will be even healthy for Georgian democracy. One of the flaws of [governance in Georgia] was [having] too many [political] heavyweights… They were dominating the whole political space,” he said.
“I think that if he departs from politics – and probably he will, but it’s too early to talk about timing now – I think there will be more competitive environment for the Georgian political parties for development… so I think it will only benefit to Georgia’s future democratic institutions. He [Ivanishvili] is a man of [his] word; so far he’s track record of saying things and delivering is very high,” Alasania said.
Relations with Russia
The Georgian Defense Minister said that current government’s “new policy” towards Russia, involving lowering rhetoric and launching direct talks on economic issues, would give Georgia more possibility to focus on internal development and its economy, as well as will give more space to Tbilisi to deal with Abkhazians and Ossetians.
He also noted that Georgia had not illusion that Russia would change its stance over Georgia’s territorial integrity or NATO aspirations.
On the breakaway regions, Alasania said: “Future in Europe together with Georgia will be more lucrative for them rather than staying under the Russian occupation; that’s the matter of time and patience.” He also added that he’s confident about starting talks with Abkhazians and Ossetians “pretty soon”.
He also said that Georgia’s current government declared openly about its readiness to cooperate with Russia in contributing to security of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
“We do not want to give any pretext to anybody to blame Georgia for not cooperating and for not having contributed to security environment for the Olympics. Even with this very hard legacy of war and occupation from the Russia side, we think that counterterrorism is issue [where] we can cooperate with everybody in the region,” the Georgian Defense Minister said.
Alasania said that it might also be an opportunity to cooperate with local law enforcement agencies in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Relations with Israel
Asked about relations with Israel, Alasania said that PM Ivanishvili’s recent visit to Israel was “a huge success”.
“We eased some of their concerns vis-à-vis our relations with Iran. They are confident that whatever we do in the region and [in relations with] Iran, it will not go against Israel,” Alasania said, adding that he’s looking forward visiting Israel “pretty soon.”
“Israel was one of the main partners in building our defensive capabilities…So we hope that we’ll be able to continue this,” he said.
============
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http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
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============
Civil Georgia
August 23, 2013
Alasania on NATO, Ties with Russia and Internal Politics
Tbilisi: Defense Minister, Irakli Alasania, said he expects active discussions to start later this year and early in 2014 about specifics of what should be “next step” on Georgia’s path to NATO integration in the context of NATO summit in 2014.
“Georgia’s aspiration is to become a member of NATO and thus far we demonstrated and we will demonstrate again in upcoming presidential election that we deserve to be adequately assessed and adequately responded [by NATO allies in respect] of future integration process,” Alasania said while speaking at a public event organized by Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University on August 21.
Alasania, who is visiting Washingto
Alasania said “not acting” and not providing sufficient help to aspirant countries in their efforts to pave the way towards eventual membership would send a “wrong signal” to Russia.
“We have to demonstrate that Russia does not have any say in relationship between NATO and Georgia,” he said. “We will have exemplary [presidential] election [on October 27] that will demonstrate that we are ready for the next step for integration.”
What this next step might be, he said, has yet to be defined.
In April PM Ivanishvili said
Alasania also said on August 21 in Washington that there’s no need to create over inflated expectations from NATO summit in 2014. He, however, also said that after meetings with the North Atlantic Council after its visit to Georgia in June, he’s optimistic that NATO allies too were aware of the need to offer Georgia specific steps.
While speaking about this issue he mentioned that “we have to wait for elections in Georgia and also in Germany” and then start determining what this next step of integration might be.
In his remarks Alasania stressed Germany’s role in Georgia’s EU and NATO integration as very important.
“We are investing a lot in relationship with Germany. We are also thinking about working jointly with Germans in north of Afghanistan in post-ISAF [mission], under their command,” Alasania said.
On NATO integration, Alasania also said that membership in the Alliance was Georgia’s current government’s “top foreign policy and security priority”; he also said that it was already decided by the North Atlantic Council to make Georgia part of the NATO Response Force in 2015; he said this decision “speaks of itself how much Georgian troops and Georgian defense is valued.”
During his presentation, Alasania also noted that the role of previous governments in achieving the progress Georgia now has should also be acknowledged.
“The Georgia which we see today is hard work of a lot of people in the previous administrations. The first president was someone who brought Georgia the independence, President [Eduard] Shevardnadze was the first one who actually started talking about NATO and the future of Georgia in NATO. Then the third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, made all the efforts to make this progress and a lot of new initiatives were started to integrate more closely and to modernize Georgia'
Commenting on these remarks by the Defense Minister, President Saakashvili said on August 23 that Alasania “is really the most adequate minister in the current government."
Alasania also said that despite of difficulties, political cohabitation was made possible in Georgia. “No matter that we all made mistakes of course – and there was a lot of emotions flowing after the elections, but I think things are now settled,” he said.
U.S.-Georgia Defense Cooperation
Alasania spoke at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute right after his bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon on August 21.
He said that he discussed with Secretary Hagel how “to expand our military-to-
He said that before acquiring defense capabilities
“We want to invest more [in] training, education, infrastructure and logistics so that we can sustain the defense capabilities that we will acquire” from the U.S. or from elsewhere, Alasania said.
During the presentation, Alasania also said: “The state of Georgian defense is not that weak as some people are alluding.”
Ivanishvili’s Intended Pre-Term Resignation ‘Not a Tragedy’
Asked if he thought that PM Ivanishvili’s statement about intended pre-term resignation would cause political uncertainty, Alasania responded: “As a partner, as an ally I urge Bidzina Ivanishvili not to do that.”
“But on the other hand from the very beginning he was saying that he was not intending to stay [in government] for a long time and we felt that at certain point he would be talking about this. So this time has arrived. We do not know yet exactly how it will work out,” Alasania said.
He, however, also said that Ivanishvili’s pre-term resignation would “not be a tragedy.”
“It will be even healthy for Georgian democracy. One of the flaws of [governance in Georgia] was [having] too many [political] heavyweights… They were dominating the whole political space,” he said.
“I think that if he departs from politics – and probably he will, but it’s too early to talk about timing now – I think there will be more competitive environment for the Georgian political parties for development… so I think it will only benefit to Georgia’s future democratic institutions. He [Ivanishvili] is a man of [his] word; so far he’s track record of saying things and delivering is very high,” Alasania said.
Relations with Russia
The Georgian Defense Minister said that current government’s “new policy” towards Russia, involving lowering rhetoric and launching direct talks on economic issues, would give Georgia more possibility to focus on internal development and its economy, as well as will give more space to Tbilisi to deal with Abkhazians and Ossetians.
He also noted that Georgia had not illusion that Russia would change its stance over Georgia’s territorial integrity or NATO aspirations.
On the breakaway regions, Alasania said: “Future in Europe together with Georgia will be more lucrative for them rather than staying under the Russian occupation; that’s the matter of time and patience.” He also added that he’s confident about starting talks with Abkhazians and Ossetians “pretty soon”.
He also said that Georgia’s current government declared openly about its readiness to cooperate with Russia in contributing to security of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
“We do not want to give any pretext to anybody to blame Georgia for not cooperating and for not having contributed to security environment for the Olympics. Even with this very hard legacy of war and occupation from the Russia side, we think that counterterrorism is issue [where] we can cooperate with everybody in the region,” the Georgian Defense Minister said.
Alasania said that it might also be an opportunity to cooperate with local law enforcement agencies in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Relations with Israel
Asked about relations with Israel, Alasania said that PM Ivanishvili’s recent visit to Israel was “a huge success”.
“We eased some of their concerns vis-à-vis our relations with Iran. They are confident that whatever we do in the region and [in relations with] Iran, it will not go against Israel,” Alasania said, adding that he’s looking forward visiting Israel “pretty soon.”
“Israel was one of the main partners in building our defensive capabilities…So we hope that we’ll be able to continue this,” he said.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:14 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://en.rian.
Russian Information Agency Novosti
August 26, 2013
Russia Warns US Again Against Syria Intervention
MOSCOW: Moscow has once again urged Washington against possible military intervention
Russia is especially concerned about remarks by some US administration officials alleging the Syrian government was behind “the purported use of chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta last week,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his US counterpart John Kerry in a telephone conversation, according to a Foreign Ministry website statement.
The Syrian opposition has accused the government of killing hundreds of people in a massive nerve gas attack near Damascus on Wednesday, with death toll estimates varying from 100 to more than 1,000 people. The Syrian government promptly denied the reports as baseless and showed on state TV what it said was evidence of chemical weapons stocks held by rebel forces.
A team of UN inspectors started working in Damascus Monday to verify the claims of chemical weapons use. The team is expected to visit three sites where chemical weapons attacks allegedly occurred previously. One site is the town of Khan al-Assal, in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, where the Syrian government claimed rebels used chemical weapons in March.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday President Obama had asked the US military to “prepare for all contingencies,” following the alleged gas attack incidents, US media reported. Lavrov’s appeal follows an increasing force build-up by the United States Navy in the eastern Mediterranean. Four destroyers armed with cruise missiles are in the area, US defense officials told Fox News on the weekend.
“The impression is that certain circles [in the US], including those who are actively calling for military intervention in circumvention of the United Nations, are overtly trying to undo the joint Russian-US efforts to convene an international conference on the peaceful resolution of the crisis,” Lavrov told Kerry.
He urged the US to refrain from exerting pressure on Damascus and responding to provocations, stressing the need to facilitate the ongoing UN investigation into the Ghouta incident.
Kerry promised to carefully study Russia’s arguments. The two ministers agreed to address all aspects of the Syria crisis in the very near future, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The unrest in Syria began in March 2011 and later escalated into a civil war. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the UN.
------------
http://www.interfax
Interfax
August 26, 2013
U.S. interference in Syrian conflict will lead to chaos in Middle East - political expert
MOSCOW: U.S. President Barack Obama could possibly resort to military intervention in the Syrian conflict due to pressure of his political opponents, but will try to limit it to a short-term war, head of a working group under the Russian president'
Obama will do everything possible not to interfere in the Syrian conflict, however his political opponents insist on military intervention, Karaganov told Interfax on Monday.
"I do not know whether the Obama administration will be able to withstand this pressure. Unfortunately, the situation has unfolded in such a way that military presence is gradually increasing and weapon after weapon is being hung on the wall. That is why I do not exclude the possibility that this operation will begin, regardless of the common sense of acting otherwise. At the very least, bombing the positions of the Syrian forces in cities may occur," Karaganov said.
"If the United States intervenes, it will be a symbolic war directed not against the region, where chaos will absolutely reign after this war, but at various political groups in the world and in the West," Karaganov said.
The purpose of this military intervention will be to show that "the United States is ready to use force, that the United States is no longer a paper tiger losing all the time," the political expert said. "Moreover, the Libyan conflict, in which the United States participated, clearly did not bring victory to them because Libya is now falling apart," he said.
Russian involvement in this war is unlikely, Karaganov said. "I can hardly imagine Russia will interfere even if this war becomes international. I strongly suspect that it is senseless and impossible to supply the necessary hardware in such a situation and enough weapons have already been accumulated there. Therefore, I do not think that Russia could, nor should it, openly interfere," he said.
It is obvious that foreign interference in the Syrian conflict will complicate the holding of the Geneva conference. "But it looks like that the development of the situation in Syria, where a comprehensive civil war is underway and where various groups do not want to negotiate, has already eliminated this possibility,
Russian Information Agency Novosti
August 26, 2013
Russia Warns US Again Against Syria Intervention
MOSCOW: Moscow has once again urged Washington against possible military intervention
Russia is especially concerned about remarks by some US administration officials alleging the Syrian government was behind “the purported use of chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta last week,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his US counterpart John Kerry in a telephone conversation, according to a Foreign Ministry website statement.
The Syrian opposition has accused the government of killing hundreds of people in a massive nerve gas attack near Damascus on Wednesday, with death toll estimates varying from 100 to more than 1,000 people. The Syrian government promptly denied the reports as baseless and showed on state TV what it said was evidence of chemical weapons stocks held by rebel forces.
A team of UN inspectors started working in Damascus Monday to verify the claims of chemical weapons use. The team is expected to visit three sites where chemical weapons attacks allegedly occurred previously. One site is the town of Khan al-Assal, in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, where the Syrian government claimed rebels used chemical weapons in March.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday President Obama had asked the US military to “prepare for all contingencies,” following the alleged gas attack incidents, US media reported. Lavrov’s appeal follows an increasing force build-up by the United States Navy in the eastern Mediterranean. Four destroyers armed with cruise missiles are in the area, US defense officials told Fox News on the weekend.
“The impression is that certain circles [in the US], including those who are actively calling for military intervention in circumvention of the United Nations, are overtly trying to undo the joint Russian-US efforts to convene an international conference on the peaceful resolution of the crisis,” Lavrov told Kerry.
He urged the US to refrain from exerting pressure on Damascus and responding to provocations, stressing the need to facilitate the ongoing UN investigation into the Ghouta incident.
Kerry promised to carefully study Russia’s arguments. The two ministers agreed to address all aspects of the Syria crisis in the very near future, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The unrest in Syria began in March 2011 and later escalated into a civil war. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the UN.
------------
http://www.interfax
Interfax
August 26, 2013
U.S. interference in Syrian conflict will lead to chaos in Middle East - political expert
MOSCOW: U.S. President Barack Obama could possibly resort to military intervention in the Syrian conflict due to pressure of his political opponents, but will try to limit it to a short-term war, head of a working group under the Russian president'
Obama will do everything possible not to interfere in the Syrian conflict, however his political opponents insist on military intervention, Karaganov told Interfax on Monday.
"I do not know whether the Obama administration will be able to withstand this pressure. Unfortunately, the situation has unfolded in such a way that military presence is gradually increasing and weapon after weapon is being hung on the wall. That is why I do not exclude the possibility that this operation will begin, regardless of the common sense of acting otherwise. At the very least, bombing the positions of the Syrian forces in cities may occur," Karaganov said.
"If the United States intervenes, it will be a symbolic war directed not against the region, where chaos will absolutely reign after this war, but at various political groups in the world and in the West," Karaganov said.
The purpose of this military intervention will be to show that "the United States is ready to use force, that the United States is no longer a paper tiger losing all the time," the political expert said. "Moreover, the Libyan conflict, in which the United States participated, clearly did not bring victory to them because Libya is now falling apart," he said.
Russian involvement in this war is unlikely, Karaganov said. "I can hardly imagine Russia will interfere even if this war becomes international. I strongly suspect that it is senseless and impossible to supply the necessary hardware in such a situation and enough weapons have already been accumulated there. Therefore, I do not think that Russia could, nor should it, openly interfere," he said.
It is obvious that foreign interference in the Syrian conflict will complicate the holding of the Geneva conference. "But it looks like that the development of the situation in Syria, where a comprehensive civil war is underway and where various groups do not want to negotiate, has already eliminated this possibility,
