Destructive US-Led NATO Middle East Agenda

by Stephen Lendman

Washington prioritizes militarism, conquest, occupation, colonization and exploitation - longstanding ruthless policies. Adam Smith, in his "Wealth of Nations," long ago explained how America operates today, saying:

"All for ourselves and nothing for other people seems in every age of the world to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind."

Russia's intervention in Syria last year, at the behest of its government, was Washington's first serious regional post-Cold War challenge - its regime change agenda sustaining a humiliating body blow.

Will Trump authorize more diplomacy and less war? Will he normalize ties with Russia and  cooperate with Putin in combating terrorism - stepping back from America's imperial agenda, focusing on regime change in one country after another?

How he'll govern awaits his ascension to power. In the meantime, Obama's deplorable agenda continues. A previous article commented on Russia's stinging yearend rebuke.

Its Foreign Ministry acknowledged the futility of dealing with an adversarial regime - undermining its good faith efforts for peace in Syria and Ukraine, along with "looking for ways to harm Russia."

Days earlier, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "(n)early all levels" of US/Russia dialogue is frozen. "We do not talk to each other, or we do it to a minimum," he explained.

On Tuesday, Sergey Lavrov blasted what he called "Obama administration attempts to further wreck Russia/US cooperation." He rebuffed Kerry's latest Israeli/Palestine peace plan, presented on December 28, based on his one-sided/failed 2014 framework proposal.

He warned against forcing America's agenda on Quartet and Security Council members. According to Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov,  mending ties with Washington won't come easily or quickly.

Given Obama's hostility throughout much of his tenure, "trust is out of the question," Ryabkov stressed, adding he expects US policy will change under Trump. He believes "there won't be so explicit attempts to play the anti-Russian card."

He called Obama's agenda a "dirty and unseemly game." Once Trump is inaugurated, work with his administration will begin.

Separately, Ryabkov called a co-sponsored British/French draft Security Council resolution for additional sanctions on Syria "categorically unacceptable to us."

"Nothing will come of this," he stressed. Along with Washington, Britain and France likely want Assad punished for successfully challenging their imperial agenda along with considerable Russian help.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.