The Moscow
Times
West Acts Like 'Bull
in China Shop' in Middle East – Russian PM
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/west-acts-like-bull-in-china-shop-in-middle-east--russian-pm/484021.html
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized Sunday the West's
interference in the Middle East, describing it
as a "bull in a china shop."
In an interview with RT, Medvedev said he agreed with the
interviewer that the West often purposefully pushed whole nations to the point
of no return, beyond which it was very difficult to convince the warring sides
to attempt negotiations.
"Our Western partners sometimes behave like a bull in a
china shop — they squeeze in, crush everything and then don't know what to do
next. I often find myself astonished at their analysts and how inconsistent
their projects are that they push through by their superiors and at the
outcomes they get," Medvedev told RT.
"If we're being completely honest, what good did the
Arab Spring bring to the Arab world? Did it bring freedom? A little, at best.
In most countries it led to endless bloodshed, regime change, and continuous
unrest. I have no illusions about that either. As for the pushing that you
mentioned, yes, unfortunately, that's true," Medvedev said.
What happened in Libya
and Iraq and what is
happening in Syria
show that there is a forceful dismantling of a country's political system under
the guise of the fight for national interests, an intrusion into its internal
affairs and the installation a loyal political regime, Medvedev said.
"Nothing good came out of it, by the way. We know what
happened and we can see what is happening. The situation in Iraq is very volatile — dozens of people are
killed every day ... Of course, we are doing our best to support Iraq. We meet
with Iraqi leaders; we sympathize with them, because we have a long history of
contacts with them," the prime minister said.
"Libya
was torn apart by this war, and there are still regions where the central
authorities have not managed to regain full control, just like we expected.
This is not to mention what happened to [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi. This
was horrible. This is another stain on the reputation of the people who
initiated this military operation," Medvedev said.
Syria
is also on the brink of a similar war, the prime minister said.
"Basically, there's a civil war raging in the country;
it's a disaster. We have always believed that the power to solve Syria's
problems should lie with its people. But the active interference that we now
see might potentially lead to the same problems and create yet another unstable
country in a permanent state of civil war," Medvedev said.