The Wages of "Smart Power"

by JASmius

....being called a liar by a KGB spook:

Washington and Russia remained publicly at odds over Syria on Wednedsay with President Vladimir Putin accusing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry of lying by playing down the role of al-Qaida with rebel forces.

"He is lying and knows he is lying. It's sad."

Kerry played down concerns that any U.S. military strike over chemical weapons might provoke a clash with Russia.

"Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov has made it clear ... Russia does not intend to fight a war over Syria," Kerry told a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Obama said he would continue to try to persuade Putin of the need for punitive strikes on Assad for using chemical weapons when the two meet in St. Petersburg.

So let's tally this up: Mr. French is lying, and so poorly that a professional liar is almost offering to coach him in the fine art of fibrication or at least give him a few pointers.  Whereas the professional liar's Kerry-counterpart is shoveling with both hands, and ol' Thurston Howell IV is calling it chocolate fondu and asking for seconds.  Makes you wonder if Lurch might not have significant investments in the underground bunker business.

But JFK's prevaricating ability isn't what's sad; what's sad is that the American public can put a greater degree of confidence in the veracity of an ex-KGB agent than in any representative of their own government.

Meanwhile, the reality is that the Assad regime has been a bosom client of the Russians, and the Evil Empire before that, for over forty years.  Moscow has a fortune in civilian and military infrastructure invested in Syria, and Vlade Putin is not going to let any of that go under any circumstances, much less because President Red Lines wants to chase him around Petrograd boring him to death.  If you ask me, that O thinks he can "persuade" VP to the contrary is what's truly sad.

Exit question #1: The Russians have already warned of "catastrophic consequences" if O attacks Syria, and we know that he cares not a whit what Da Peepul or Congress think of his cowboy unilateralism; but is Red Barry giving any heed to Putin's warnings, or is he counting on him backing them up?

Exit Question #2: Do y'all ever remember Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, James Baker, George Schultz, Alexander Haig, or Henry Kissinger ever being openly mocked by a major head of state like this?