Dear America: When Putin Talks Directly to US Citizens
BY MATTHEW HANKIN
President Vladimir Putin published his now infamous op-ed on the New York Times website on Thursday. A mere 24 hours later, his op-ed had become the most viewed, most emailed, and most blogged about article on the entire website. The name “Putin” topped the list as the most searched term on the site, narrowly beating out “Putin op-ed” at number two (Syria came in 3rd place). In the first section of his article, Putin states his goal as “to speak directly to the American people.” It sounds like they are listening.
Putin’s decision to write an article in a major American newspaper is unusual, but not unprecedented. In May 2011, shortly after Osama Bin Laden’s death, the then President of Pakistan, Asif Zardari published an op-ed in the Washington Post entitled, “Pakistan Did Its Part.” The article amounted to a justification of Pakistan’s actions, an attempt to convince the American people that Pakistan was not only greatly satisfied with the death of Bin Laden, but instrumental in securing it.
Whereas Zardari’s op-ed comes across as a defense of Pakistan, Putin’s “Plea for Caution” is remarkable as an attack on American foreign policy and exceptionalism. Putin’s article reads like a lecture to the American people, starting with a brief history of US-Russia relations that extends to the current bloody conflict in Syria. The problem with Putin’s lecture is that it shows him to be an incompetent teacher who forgets or misrepresents the most essential facts.
One of Putin’s most glaring fabrications is his assertion that the global community has “every reason” to believe that opposition forces, and not the Syrian Army, were responsible for the chemical weapons used in Syria. Putin’s statement contradicts the findings of a Human Rights Watch report, French and UK intelligence, as well as an official statement from the European Union that said there was “strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible.”
When Putin decides to assign blame for the atrocities that chemical weapons have not caused, he looks to foreign countries like the USA for providing weapons to the opposition that fuel the bloody conflict. In his estimation, Putin conveniently neglects to mention that Russia has continued to sell weapons to the Syrian regime, a regime that the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon said on Friday “has committed many crimes against humanity.” Putin’s rift from reality continues to grow when he describes his relationship with Obama as “marked by growing trust.” If Putin’s statement is to be believed, it begs the question why he felt it necessary to speak directly to the American people and their leadership because of “insufficient communication.” Signs of growing trust between the US and Russia are especially difficult to find in the context of Russia’s offer of a one-year asylum to National Security Agency leaker Snowden.
The current state of US-Russia affairs does not inhibit Putin from offering his most blunt piece of advice to Americans: do not view yourselves as exceptional. To support his point, Putin invokes a classic phrase of American identity, “God created us equal.” While this language may on it face resonate with many Americans, it is important to consider the source of such wisdom in full perspective. In Putin’s Russia, words like equality hold little value, as many of his own people suffer from harsh discrimination stemming from legislation outlawing “homosexual propaganda.”
In short, Putin’s op-ed amounts to a hypocritical fiction. The article comes at a time of growing discontent within Russia, when one of Putin’s most prominent critics, Alexei Navalny, did surprisingly well in the first Moscow mayoral race in a decade. Given this context, Putin’s op-ed should be viewed as not only an appeal to a foreign American audience, but also to a domestic Russian one. This narrative elevates his policies to a false position of authority and moderation in the global perspective. It is an egotistical work whose narrow interests do not include those of the Syrian people. For this reason, while many Americans have heard what Mr. Putin has to say, his words are not worthy of much attention.