© Shuji Kajiyama / ReutersU.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Ca)
"De dobbelt-standarder som vi har bedømt Rusland med, og funderingen af vores politik på dobbelt-standarder, har forårsaget os stor skade," sagde Rohrabacher ved en høring i [Kongress] Husets komite for udenrigsanliggender, onsdag morgen. "Havde vi hele denne tid arbejdet sammen med russerne i god tillid, så tror jeg at situationen i Mellemøsten ville have været total anderledes, og bedre, og mere stabil."
Den Californiske lovgiver tog undtagelse til at bebrejde Rusland for alt ulig sine kolleger såvel som assisterende udenrigsminister for Eurasiske anliggender, Victoria Nuland og hendes kollega Anne Patterson, Assisterende udenrigsminister for nærøstlige anliggender. Nuland og Patterson var tilstede ved kongresshøringen for at briefe lovgivere om USAs politik i forbindelse med Ruslands intervention i Syrien imod krigere fra Islamisk Stat.
Kommentar: Denne artikel er delvis oversat til dansk af sott.net fra: Alternate reality? US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher stands up to State Department, tells the truth about US policy in Syria and Russia
Washington has accused Russia of bombing the US-backed "moderate rebels" rather than Islamic State targets. Moscow maintains the Russian air force is targeting all terrorists inside the country, including IS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra. Patterson admitted that al-Nusra had "absorbed a number of what we would previously call the moderate opposition" during the hearing.
"The double standard that we've been judging Russia... is just overwhelming," Rohrabacher said. Noting that he had taken great pride in fighting against the Soviet Union during the Cold War, he said that Russians had expected to be treated as friends after the conflict ended, but were only met with more hostility.
Rep Rohrabacher: "As if Saudi Arabia isn't a dictatorship."— Patricia Zengerle (@ReutersZengerle) November 4, 2015He also pointed out that the US had turned down a Russian proposal to broker a compromise end to the civil war in Syria years ago because of this hostility. Now that Syria has "totally gone to hell, we still can't get ourselves to try to look at Putin as a possible partner in cooperation to make things better," Rohrabacher thundered.
"I believe it is our hostility to Russia that prevented us from creating a policy that would create a more stable Middle East,"he said.
Assistant Secretary Patterson took exception with the congressman's contention that other Gulf Arab states were as willing to violently suppress rebellions as the government in Damascus.
"Saudi Arabia is a country I know very well and they would not do that," she said.
"That's very naïve," replied Rohrabacher.
Pointing out that the US overthrew the Gaddafi government in Libya, only to see half the country fall to radical Muslims who want to kill Americans, the lawmaker asked Assistant Secretary Patterson how the State Department intends to avoid the same outcome in Syria.
"There is a broad consensus in the international community that the institutions in Syria would remain intact," Patterson replied. "The goal is to remove Assad and his closest advisers, and have this political process that would lead to a new government, not destroy the institutional structure."
When Rohrabacher asked why exactly that might be a US goal to begin with, Patterson replied that Washington was protecting a "national security interest" because the situation in Syria affected the security of US allies - Israel, the Gulf Arab states, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
"By dealing with Putin instead of trying to demonize him, perhaps we could have had have more stability in Syria and our friends would be actually better off, than the current policy of 'whatever we do, don't work with Russia, and get rid of Assad'," Rohrabacher retorted.
On Tuesday, Russian and US warplanes conducted a joint safety exercise in the skies over Syria. The Pentagon called it a "communications test" and stressed that there was no formal US-Russian military cooperation.
Since the beginning of Russia's air campaign initiated at the requested of the Syrian government, Russian aircraft have carried out more than 1,600 sorties, killing several hundred terrorists and destroying more than 2,000 targets. Having suffered substantial losses, IS militants have been withdrawing from the line of contact with the Syrian army.
Kommentar: This is the second US politician who has gone on record denouncing US foreign policy in Syria and Russia. Is there a shift occurring where even those working within the US government are standing up against the lies and brutality of the American Empire?
Alternate reality? CNN broadcasts U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard telling the truth about Syria