‘Hopeful idiocy’ US expert MOCKS Obama’s administration for hoping Putin would ditch Assad
BARACK Obama’s administration has been ridiculed for hoping Vladimir Putin would shun his alliance with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
A US expert ridiculed Barack Obama's administration for hoping Putin would abandon Assad
Danielle Pletka, vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, said John Kerry’s final two years in office were plagued with failed attempts to get Russia on America’s side.
But Ms Pletka slapped down the former US Secretary of State's attempts as a complete “misreading” of Putin’s interests.
American officials hoping that Russia will abandon Assad profoundly misread Russian interests – says Danielle Pletka #newsnight pic.twitter.com/YjbKRbVtl4
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) April 11, 2017
Speaking to Newsnight host Evan Davis, Ms Pletka said: “That hope springs eternal on the part of American officials, no matter what their political party, that somehow Russians are going to ditch Assad and embrace someone else.
“I think that is a profound misreading of Russian interests. This was what kept John Kerry alive apparently in the last two years of the Obama administration.
“I can’t imagine to myself that the Trump administration is full of such hopeful idiocy.”
Her comments follow accusations from the White House claiming the Russian government took part in a cover-up of the chemical weapons attack in Syria last week.
The accusations drawn from a US National Security Council report claim Moscow and Damascus released “false narratives”.
Vladimir Putin has confirmed his support for Assad's Syrian regime
Russia even went a step further to “shield” an ally that had used weapons of mass destruction, the report claims.
But last week, Gary Samore, the former White House co-ordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction until 2013, said Obama’s refusal to use “direct force” against the Syrian dictator will lead to further gas attacks and fatalities in the war-torn state.
Mr Samore’s criticism of Obama came after Trump’s claims that the former President was to blame for the attack which left more than 50 people dead.