|
Putin Extends Olive Branch to Obama on July 4th
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
July 4, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Reaching out to President Barack Obama, 61-year-old
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a Fourth of July message asking to improve
relations. With differences on a
wide variety of foreign policy issues driving a wedge between the two
superpowers, Putin looks for find common ground.
U.S. and European Union officials railed at Putin’s March 1 annexation of
Crimea after watching a Western-backed anti-Russian coup drive Russian-backed
Ukrainian Presdient Viktor Yanukovich from Kiev Feb. 22. U.S. and EU officials have
completely ignored Russian interests, especially Russia’s Black Sea Naval base
and military installations. Taking
the lead sponsoring U.N. sanctions against Moscow, Obama has driven U.S.-Russian
relations to the lowest point since the end of the Cold War in 1991. Putin’s July 4 message to Obama asks
the White House to get back on track.
Faced with a growing Islamic menace beginning to swallow large chunks of
the Middle East, Obama has plenty of reason to try to coordinate with Putin on
dealing with 42-year-old Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant. Al-Baghdadi declared
himself a descendent of Mohammed and the caliph of the new Islamic State carved
out of stolen land in Iraq, Syrian and Jordan.
With al-Baghdadi’s ISIL marching on Baghdad and Damascus, the U.S. and
Russia don’t have to squabble. Like
Nazi Storm Troopers in the 1930s, ISIL gains its advantage from blindsiding
poorly defended territories in remote areas of the Middle East. Since the U.S. military pulled out
of Iraq Dec. 15, 2011, al-Baghdadi jumped at the opportunity to seize land,
knowing Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki were too buried in
sectarian conflict to defend their borders.
Things headed south for U.S.-Russian relations over al-Assad’s attempt to
defend himself from a Saudi-backed Sunni insurgency started in the Arab Spring
March 11, 2011. White House
officials joined the chorus calling for al-Assad’s ouster for defending his
small Alawite Shiite sect against a Sunni onslaught. Saudi-dominated propaganda blames
al-Assad for some 162,000 deaths, with hundreds-of-thousands displaced into
U.N.-sponsored refugee camps.
Whatever happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, there’s no equivalence in Syria,
other than Saudi-backed Sunni revolutions seeking to expel minority rulers. Like Saddam Hussein in Iraq,
al-Assad was a Baathist secularist, much like Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, whose
Islamic faith stayed in the Mosque.
Former President George W. Bush’s Iraq War in Iraq destabilized the region by
creating the power vacuum filled by Islamic extremists.
None of the extremists were more radical and barbaric that al-Zarqawi,
whose surviving group ISIL now pushes to takeover the Middle East. “The head of the Russian state expressed hope that
. . . the ties between the two countries will develop successfully on the
basis of pragmatism and equality despite difficulties and disagreements,” wrote
the Kremlin in a message to Obama.
If you read between the lines, the Kremlin’s asking Obama to back off sanctions
and find common ground, like joining forces to defeat ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Whatever went wrong in Ukraine,
finding common ground with Moscow only helps the U.S. to convince Putin to
eventually hand back Crimea to Kiev.
Calling for “pragmatism and equality,” the Kremlin hopes to find common
ground with the U.S. Joining forces to defeat ISIL in Syria, Iraq and Jordan, should help Russia and the U.S.
mend fences.
Watching U.S.-Russian relations
deteriorate to a post-Cold War low, the White House needs to improve
communication to deal with the implacable Mideast challenge. Improving U.S-Russian relations
helps U.S. foreign policy in many ways, including dealing with Iran and North
Korea’s nuke issues. Putin commands
considerable clout in Tehran and Pyongyang.
“In fact, we are dealing with a new offensive type of weapon,” said
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, referring to how sanctions hurt the
Russian stock market and ruble.
Imposing economic and travel bans harms the Russian economy, nearing recession. With so many cooperative ventures
needed, the U.S. and Russia have engaged in self-destructive behavior. Whatever went wrong in Syria or
Ukraine, the U.S. and Russian need to get on the same page and figure out a way
moving forward.
Righting the U.S.-Russian ship won’t take long as long as Obama and Putin
seize the opportunity to defeat a growing Mideast menace. With all of Russia’s problems with Islamic extremism in the Caucasus region, especially
Chechnya, Putin would gladly help the U.S. stop Iraq and Syria’s growing Islamic
insurgency. Listen to al-Baghdadi
talk about his holy war against the West, the time is ripe for a joint
U.S.-Russian mission to stop ISIL’s forward advance toward Baghdad, Damascus and
possibly Amman, Jordan. “The
hegemony of the U.S. on the world stage is over,” said Yevgeny Lukyanov, Deputy
Head of Russia’s Security Council. If Obama would show Putin some understanding of his move in Crimea, it would pave the way
for more cooperation on a host of more important matters. Creating better rapport and joining
a common venture, would open the doors to resolving many other issues.
|
