Kremlin's lingustic editing exposes its "cunning" game in Syria: presenting the FSA as "healthy opposition" and as "the way"--the desired wrap-up of Syria's rescue

Since Minsk has been Putin's great personal success, there are strong indications that Putin's strategic plan is to pull off something similar for Syria, perhaps with an innovative flipping of the Syrian government into the role of the rebellious Donbass and the "Free Syrian Army" (or anything else claiming to be those "moderate" and "healthy opposition") playing the role of the Maidan regime. In effect, this could have a form of the agreement which Yanukovich signed and which Russia also backed and supported. Of course, Hollande or someone like that will swear to offer his personal guarantees.

Last year, Putin traded a rout of the Ukrainian Army in later August in Donbass for Minsk 1 and then Minsk 2, which chained him and Donbass to Kiev's fascist regime under the "sovereignty" of which Donbass and united Ukraine ought to live.

A similar pattern is now emerging in Syria too: trading Russian military action for legitimizing the Syrian-heart-eating FSA as part of Moscow's cunning plan for solving the war in Syria. Putin's sincerity and seriousness is well underscored by his public, ostensible pretense that he does not know where the FSA is and who heads it, however, he wants to have the FSA unknowns to be united with President Assad and the Syrian Arab Army.

Marc Fasnacht: "Does Putin suffer from amnesia or is he only (^^and of course cleverly^^) just pretending to?


There is are several incriminating and revealing differences in how Putin's official site presents Putin's October 7 statement on the uniting the Free Syrian Army with the Syrian Arab Army as a "prerequisite for a future political settlement." They are notable omissions between the original Russian and the English rendering on Putin's official site. The differences have political implications.

The Russian transcript accords with the statement recorded on the video provided by RT--though the video is clearly, all too clearly, made of cut and edited pieces. But the Russian transcript follows faithfully what Putin says on the camera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sfFR1-qgPs

So what are the differences?

The transcript in English leaves out this "we take the view that THIS IS THE MILITARY WING of the so-called healthy opposition ..." Instead of the "military wing," it puts there "these people [FSA] are part of the healthy opposition." "The so-called" is gone, which makes the FSA appear to be more "truly" "healthy opposition"--the qualifier "so-called" is removed, thus making for the foreign speaking audience the claim that the FSA is "healthy opposition" more affirmative. Moreover, by removing the notion that the FSA is a militant and military outfit also serves to reinforce the idea that these are not terrorists, but some "healthy opposition," which might or might not be fighting and killing the Syrians.

The third notable change (after removing "so-called" and "the military wing") is the removal of "THE COMMON ENEMY" from the original statement, " in the fight against the common enemy, terrorist organisations," leaving in the English rendering only " in the fight against terrorist organisations." The painting of other terrorists organizations now exclusive of the "FSA" as terrorist now also (falsely) allows Putin and the Kremlin (just as Lavrov did it) to paint the FSA not as terrorist, but as somehow "healthy," thus very legitimate.

Clearly, the attempt here was to hide the idea of the "common enemy," for the FSA, ISIS, and al Qaeda/Nusra had and have for their common enemy the Syrian government and the Syrian Army. Occasional infighting between these terrorist organizations is due to some differences between their foreign sponsors and their fights over which of them ought to control what part of Syria, spoils, and resources.

The last notable editing of the version of Putin's statement for the world entails removing the word "good" in "this would help pave the GOOD way to a future political settlement in Syria." In fact, the original Russian is less assertive--literally, it says "this would create GOOD condition for a future political settlement." The English rendering takes the good out, but then, instead, makes the uniting of the FSA with President Assad "THE [one] WAY" to be followed.

Russian original conforming to the RT video: "Правда, мы пока не знаем, где она и кто её возглавляет. Но если исходить из того, что это боевое крыло так называемой здоровой части оппозиции, то если бы удалось объединить их усилия в борьбе против общего врага, против террористических организаций: ИГИЛ, «Джабхат ан-Нусра» и иже с ними, – то тогда это создало бы хорошие предпосылки для дальнейшего политического урегулирования в Сирии." http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50458

English transcript by the Kremlin: "True, we do not know yet where this army is and who heads it, but if we take the view that these people are part of the healthy opposition, if it were possible to have them join in the fight against terrorist organisations such as ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and others, this would help pave the way to a future political settlement in Syria."

http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50458