Yesterday Russian president, Vladimir Putin, published an op-ed in the New York Times addressing the American people directly about the Syrian civil war where “recent events” have caused Putin to deem it necessary to “speak directly to the American people and their political leaders.”
In the op-ed, Putin calls for restraint by the United States in Syria and to avoid going around the U.N. to strike at Syria. Putin also claims that it was the rebels who launched the gas attacks that have prompted the proposed strikes.
Putin closes with, “And I would rather disagree with a case (President Obama) 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. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”
Coming on the twelfth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and at a time of heightened emotions on the Syrian civil war both abroad and at home, there have been many reactions to Putin’s op-ed. Most of them flabbergasted at Putin’s upfront approach, yet applauding his writing style for its excellence at “trolling” Obama.
“There are so many 'Say what now?!'-worthy things in Vladimir Putin’s op-ed (read surreal lecture) in the New York Times today I don’t know where to begin,” says Jonathan Capehart at the Washington Post. From the insanity of Russia calling for a working U.N., to having a "growing" relationship based off of "trust" with President Obama, Capehart concludes that, "The Russian president is a true frenemy.”
Julia Ioffe at the New Republic critiques Putin’s op-ed piece by piece, often finding hypocrisy in his statements when matched up with Russia’s actions. “'We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law.’ I don't know what Putin means by ‘protecting,’ but I think that providing arms, diplomatic cover and financial support qualify as ‘protecting.’”
And Frida Ghitis comes right out and calls “Putin a hypocrite with blood on his hands,” in her op-ed on CNN. “The Russian president tries to come across as the great defender of international institutions, peace through compromise and global consensus. …The truth, whatever Putin claims, is that the United States and other countries have tried desperately to go through the Security Council to stop the carnage in Syria. No country has obstructed those efforts more persistently than Russia.”
And of course, there were plenty of well thought out tweets to commemorate the occasions.
Freeman Stevenson is a Snow College grad and a writer for the Deseretnews.com Opinion section. Email Freeman at fstevenson@deseretdigital.com