Russian President Vladimir Putin conveniently omitted numerous facts regarding the Syria conflict from his op-ed, published yesterday in the New York Times. Human Rights Watch filled in the gaps -- what Putin didn’t tell the American people.
Putin's op-ed also made no mention of Russia’s ongoing transfer of arms to Assad throughout the past two and a half years. There is not a single mention in Putin’s article, addressed to the American people, of the egregious crimes committed by the Syrian government and extensively documented by the UN Commission of Inquiry, local and international human rights groups, and numerous journalists.Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Putin reiterated his statement that the chemical attacks in Syria were launched by opposition forces to “provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons.” But why then won’t he back referring Syria to the International Criminal Court?
The Washington Post also weighed in with its own version of Putin’s op-ed.
The protests in Turkey that captivated the world earlier this year have diminished in size. But this week, anger at a demonstrator’s death – the sixth in under four months – has bubbled over into more protests.Last night in a fit of sectarian violence, thugs with machetes murdered Eko Mardi Santoso in the peaceful, seaside village of Puger.
When he was a boy, our Indonesia researcher, Andreas Harsono, would visit this village with his father.
