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Speaking of Kerry during a televised meeting of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council on Sept. 4, Putin said: "He is lying, and he knows he is lying. It is sad."
Kerry continued to dissemble. Still arguing for war on Syria, Kerry was asked at the end of a Sept. 9 press conference in London whether there was anything at all that Assad could do to prevent a U.S. attack. Kerry answered (quite dismissively -- particularly in view of subsequent events) that Assad could give up all his chemical weapons, but "He isn't about to do that; it can't be done."
Later that same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Syrian counterpart announced that Syria had agreed to allow all its chemical weapons to be removed and destroyed. Cutting out Kerry, Obama had cut a deal directly with Putin. Syria's chemical weapons have now been removed and destroyed.
The whole thing came as a serious blow to the neocons lusting for a U.S. attack on Syria, as I was able to witness from a front-row seat at CNN, after doing an interview for their international service on Sept. 9. I had the "privilege" of being with neocons Joe Lieberman and Paul Wolfowitz at CNN's Washington studio that evening, just hours after the deal to rid Syria of its chemical weapons was announced. They were disconsolate; the mood was funereal. I described our unusual encounter under the subhead "Morose at CNN." [See Consortium News.com's How The War on Syria Lost its Way.]
Kick the Tires on Kerry's Juggernaut
So this is the backdrop against which to give credence, or not, to Kerry as he stacks up the evidence against Russia for its alleged role in the shoot-down of the Malaysian airliner on Thursday over Ukraine. [For details, see Consortium News.com's Kerry's Latest Reckless Rush To Judgment.]
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