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In Russia, Even Putin's Critics Are OK with His Syria Policy

(New Republic) Julia Ioffe - Most Russians, including the Russian press, understand their country's role in Syria's ongoing civil war. If the West has come to see Russia as the ornery spoiler in Syria, as the last ally of the cruel and increasingly embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad, Russia sees itself as the last sane person left in the room. Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in World Affairs, explained: "Here, it is not a picture of peace-loving freedom fighters against a secretive, repressive regime....The situation in Syria is much more tangled." "Many analysts are surprised that the West is supporting Islamist uprisings against secular regimes," says Lukyanov. Maxim Yusin, deputy editor of the foreign affairs section of the daily Kommersant, said "the West, in painting [the Free Syrian Army] as freedom fighters, doesn't understand that these guys are blood-sucking vampires and if they come to power there will be hell to pay, and for the Americans, too."
2012-07-25 00:00:00
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