Wicked Games: US 'Uses Terrorism as Main Mechanism of Its Foreign Policy'

The US media's allegations that Moscow is pursuing its own interests in Syria are irrelevant because Russia's anti-terror air campaign there was agreed upon with the Syrian authorities, according to military expert Alexander Zhilin.

In an interview with RT, Russian military analyst Alexander Zhilin said that US media allegations that Russia is pursuing its own interests in Syria are "absolute nonsense", given that Moscow "cooperates there with the legitimately elected president." 

He also pointed to Washington's hypocritical statements about the necessity of fighting terrorism, saying they came as the White House continued to use terrorism as a major mechanism of its foreign policy.

"Just think about it: if a country with a military budget exceeding  the consolidated budget of all the countries in the world uses terrorism as the main instrument of its foreign policy, fighting terrorism is almost impossible", Zhilin said.

He also lashed out at US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State John Kerry repeatedly calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"My question is: who are you to make such calls? It means Obama who bombed out half the world's territory must not step down, while Assad must step down, right? It is the wrong approach," he said.

According to him, Washington currently wages so-called network-centric warfare against Moscow, a military doctrine pioneered by the US Department of Defense in the 1990s. The goal is to translate an information advantage, enabled in part by information technology, into a competitive advantage through the robust computer networking of a well-informed, geographically decentralized force.

"The United States has started a propaganda [war] against Russia, which is why it is creating an anti-Russian coalition with the participation of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the US private military companies," he pointed out. 

Zhilin expressed regret about foreign media outlets, including CNN and the BBC, being involved in this war and misinforming their readers about Russia's air campaign in Syria. He recalled that Russia's "participation in Syria suggests the support of the legitimately elected president," and that "it was Washington which started the invasion without getting the UN's go-ahead."

"You know, I'm very sorry that the BBC and CNN, once respected media outlets, have turned into primitive propaganda and disinformation news agencies," he said.

Zhilin's remarks came shortly after CNN reported that the Russian air support had allowed the Syrian Army to begin liberating the strategic city of Aleppo, which was seized by militants several years ago. At the same time, CNN alleged that in Syria, Russia does not only struggle with Daesh militants but also pursues its own interests.