PRESS RELEASE
State Department’s Kirby Issues Threats and Ultimata Against Russia
Sept. 29, 2016 (EIRNS)—U.S. State Department spokesman Adm. John Kirby (ret.) was in a froth yesterday over the failure of the Russians to do what the United States tells them to do in Syria—so much so, that he was actually issuing what can only be interpreted as threats and ultimata.
After explicating Secretary of State John Kerry’s warning to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, earlier yesterday morning, that the United States was considering suspending U.S.-Russia dialogue on Syria, Kirby was asked what the consequences for Russia would be if they did not do as they were told.
"The consequences are that the civil war will continue in Syria, that extremists and extremist groups will continue to exploit the vacuums that are there in Syria to expand their operations, which will include, no question, attacks against Russian interests, perhaps even Russian cities, and Russia will continue to send troops home in body bags, and they will continue to lose resources—even, perhaps, more aircraft. The stability that they claim they seek in Syria will be ever more elusive."
In Russia, Kirby’s statement is being seen very clearly as a threat against the Russian military and against Russia itself.
"Once again we declare that we are fully prepared to continue the dialogue with the American side and carry on with the joint actions to combat terrorists in Syria,"
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said today.
"However, even the slightest hints of a threat to our soldiers and Russian citizens must be excluded from this dialogue. The matter of safety of Russian citizens, wherever they may be, is not up for bargaining. It is our main and unconditional priority."
Konashenkov also issued a threat of his own. Regarding Kirby’s "threat of potential losses" to Russia in Syria, Konashenkov pointed out that Moscow is well aware of the whereabouts of American "experts involved in operational planning and supervision of the militants’ actions."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also hit back very hard at Kirby’s threat.
"Don’t you think that such ventriloquism about ‘body bags,’ ‘terrorist attacks in Russian cities’ and ‘loss of aircraft,’ sounds more like a ‘get them’ command, rather than a diplomatic comment?"
she asked on her Facebook page.
Earlier in the day, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was uncompromising in his response to Kirby. There will be no more seven-day truces—because they allow the jihadis to regroup and rearm—and the failure of the diplomatic track "is going on due to Washington’s inability to fulfill its obligations and promises," and is therefore on the conscience of decisions made by the United States.
"We are outraged at the ultimatum-like tone of the signals that we are getting. Sometimes we even hear cynical threats against us and those who are really fighting terrorists in Syria. We can’t consider it anything else but de-facto support of terrorists by the U.S.,"
he said. Ryabkov called Washington’s threats "an emotional breakdown amid the inability of the Obama administration to implement its part of the agreements" on Syria. "The U.S. is in fact bringing grist to the terrorists’ mill providing them with undisguised support," he stressed.
