Good morning, Netizens...

 

Vladimir Putin has never truly been a choir boy for democracy, or so suggests cartoonist extraordinaire David Horsey. In fact, aside from having served as a former KGB agent, Putin is as diabolical and just plain mean-spirited as the Russians were during the Cold War.

 

Under his tutelage, Putin is now letting his Russian heritage from the past show itself with respect to Russia's support of Syria's Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown on opponents of his bloody regime. Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton complained that the Russians were sending helicopter gunships to Syria, a move that most certainly would escalate the ongoing Civil War in Syria even further.

 

The United States, some European nations and the United Nations have been attempting to build a united front against Assad, but with the Russian's Security Council veto, nothing is being positively done in that direction. There are even vague mutterings that the Russians might even bring Iran into the discussion, a concept that is tantamount to bringing an opposum into a nest of hatchling chickens for a dinner invitation.

 

The Russians appear to be picking and choosing their allies from among the world's most repressive, bloodthirsty regimes, which doesn't bode well for any meaningful peace process around the world. David Horsey states that for Putin, old habits die hard, and I couldn't agree more. Peace in Syria implies that Putin has to leave the stage, as he is a constant source of irritation in an already frustrating political world.

 

Dave

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