Russian (Vestnik Kavkaza) Interview With PCR on US/Russia Syria Cooperation

Russian (Vestnik Kavkaza) Interview With PCR on US/Russia Syria Cooperation

October 1, 2015

Russian (Vestnik Kavkaza) Interview With PCR on US/Russia Syria Cooperation

http://vestnikkavkaza.net/interviews/Craig-Roberts-“Russia-has-independent-foreign-policy-this-is-unacceptable-to-Washington”.html

Paul Craig Roberts: “Russia has independent foreign policy, this is unacceptable to Washington”

 Sep 27 - 11:17 pm By Vestnik Kavkaza

A long-awaited meeting between Presidents of Russia and the U.S. will take place tomorrow in New York, apparently, in the room of the Russian delegation in the UN SC. Paul Craig Roberts, professor, Chairman of The Institute for Political Economy, the former Aid of the Financial Minister in the administration of Ronald Reagon, told Vestnik Kavkaza (VK) about his view on the Russian-American relations.

Vestnik Kavkaza (VK) -    Do you believe that the fact that presidents Barak Obama and Vladimir Putin agreed to meet is the sign of thaw in bilateral relations?

Paul Craig Roberts  (PCR)-    No. Of course, not.

VK -    What does it mean then?

PCR -    I think, it means that Putin is too hopeful. It can also mean that he went every possible length to calm down the hostility flowing towards Russia from Washington; but it does not really mean anything, because Putin wants to talk about Syria and ISIS, and Obama wants to talk about the breakaway republics and Ukraine and wants Putin to turn it all back to Kiev. 

Therefore, they have no common purpose in the talks. Obama intends to overthrow Assad, one of the reasons, of course is to get rid of the Russian naval base at Tartus, which was the reason Washington overthrew the Ukrainian government, he wanted to get rid of the Russian Black Sea naval base. So, the two countries have different intentions. The neo-conservative strategy is that the United States must prevent the rise of Russia, because Russia could be a constraint on unilateral US actions. So, if you intend to prevent the rise of a country and you have demonized it, Russia is demonized: it is a threat worse than Ebola, the threat worse than Islamic State. American politician and top government officials even compared the president of Russia to Hitler. So, you cannot create a threat in the minds of the American people and the minds of the Europeans, and then turn around and work with that threat, because it undermines the success of the propaganda in demonizing Russia. So, there is nothing to be expected.

VK -    So, what are the chances for the US-Russia cooperation against ISIS? Actually, Ashton Carte recently said that such cooperation might be possible.

PCR -    I do not understand why the Russians are so unrealistic. For at least two years, the highest echelons of the United States government, of NATO, of European governments had been demonizing Russia and making military preparations against them. We have now sent nuclear bombs to Germany. Why do the Russians think that the Americans want to cooperate with them?

VK -    Maybe it is just politics. How serious are Americans in their hostile moves towards Russia?

PCR -    Very serious. Extremely serious. What every Russian journalist and every Russian politician needs to do is to go read the Wolfowitz doctrine. The Wolfowitz doctrine says: the collapse of the Soviet Union means history chose the United States to rule the world and the United States will not permit any country to get in its way, it is entitled to world hegemony. That is the basis of American foreign policy. What the neoconservative doctrine means (and I do not understand why Russians do not understand this) that the country that has an independent foreign policy is a threat to the United States. Who had an independent foreign policy? Ghaddafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Assad in Syria, the Iranians, the Chinese and the Russians. Then who are the threats as defined by Washington? Precisely those countries. The two of them have been completely destroyed and one is in the process of being destroyed. Russia has an independent foreign policy, this is unacceptable to Washington. 

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books areThe Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost.