Putin On the Ritz*

From the Usual USAF Source...

Putin Addresses Americans on Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin appealed directly to the American people this week through a New York Times opinion piece in which he urged the United States not to strike Syria and instead seek a diplomatic solution. Putin said bypassing the United Nations and taking military action without a UN Security Council resolution could further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa, "unleash a new wave of terrorism," and "undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem." Putin said Russia is not "protecting the Syrian government, but international law." He also cautioned that civilian casualties "are inevitable" no matter how targeted a military strike may be. He claimed "there is every reason to believe" opposition forces, and not the Syrian military, used chemical weapons in Syria. And, he took umbrage with the idea of American exceptionalism, warning that it is "extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional." Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, said he "almost wanted to vomit" after reading Putin's Sept. 11 piece while at dinner, reported CNN. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday, in a tweet, called Putin's piece "an insult to the intelligence of every American." (See also Washington Post's fact check of Putin's piece.)

Do read that WaPo piece.  It's a pretty good and fairly neutral analysis of Putin's Op Ed in the NYT.  Plus... you can kill two birds with one stone if you've not yet read the Op Ed.  My opinion?  Syria ain't our fight and we should stay the Hell out of it.  Just sayin'.

*Don't get the post title?  Go here.

―:☺:―

Some minor facts about the recently completed Grand Tour of 2013... the average speed/average economy numbers are taken from The Tart's computer, which hasn't been reset since I bought her (in other words, the numbers are the averages for well over 10,000 miles).  The numbers in parens are from the one-year report.

Total miles driven: 4,214
Average speed: 47.1 mph (43.0)
Average economy: 23.6 mpg (22.7)

The Tart has well over 10,000 miles on her now and she hasn't begun to show her age.  She IS looking pretty rough after her run, though.  We'll fix that today.