You have to hand it to Russia. In recent weeks, one move after another by Moscow over the Syrian crisis could be accompanied by the audible word \u201ccheck\u201d, leaving Washington and its minions grappling with disorientation about how to respond to the Russian moves.<\/span><\/p>\n At the heart of the West\u2019s disorientation what is being exposed is its glaring criminal deceptions over Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n This week, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zahkarova probed the Western rationale towards\u00a0Syria with\u00a0this incisive proposition.<\/span><\/p>\n She said that if Washington insists that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should stand down, then the United States government should henceforth remove its signature from\u00a0the 2012 Geneva Communiqu\u00e9. The same logical ultimatum applies to\u00a0Britain and France.<\/span><\/p>\n That communiqu\u00e9, signed three years ago by\u00a0international governments, as\u00a0well as\u00a0the United Nations, European Union and Arab League, clearly states that \u201cthe political future of\u00a0Syria must be determined by\u00a0the Syrian people themselves\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The binding document had followed lengthy negotiations between\u00a0Russia, China and the Western powers, and it was signed in\u00a0Geneva in\u00a0the summer of\u00a02012 under\u00a0the auspices of\u00a0then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Hillary Clinton was the US Secretary of\u00a0State at\u00a0the time.<\/span><\/p>\n Nowhere in\u00a0the Geneva accord is it mentioned that Syria\u2019s Assad should relinquish power.<\/span><\/p>\n It merely endorses a political process of\u00a0dialogue among\u00a0Syrian parties, the outcome of\u00a0which is to\u00a0be mandated by\u00a0the Syrian people. In fact, two years after\u00a0the communiqu\u00e9 was signed the Syrian people voted by\u00a0a huge majority to\u00a0re-elect Assad as\u00a0the country\u2019s leader.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet Western powers continue to\u00a0assert that Assad \u201chas to\u00a0go\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Germany\u2019s Chancellor Angela Merkel this week appeared to\u00a0break the Western ranks when she said that Bashar al-Assad must be part of\u00a0the political negotiations to\u00a0solve the Syrian conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n Nevertheless, Washington, Britain and France remain implacable in\u00a0their insistence that the Syrian president has to\u00a0stand down. In other words, these Western powers are unilaterally demanding regime change in\u00a0spite of\u00a0the fact that they signed up\u00a0to the Geneva Communiqu\u00e9, which makes no such stipulation. With typical unreasonable arrogance, Washington and its allies appoint themselves to\u00a0over-ride the sovereign right of\u00a0the Syrian nation.<\/span><\/p>\n Last week, while in\u00a0London, Clinton\u2019s successor John Kerry repeated the American demand that \u201cAssad must go\u201d. Speaking alongside\u00a0his British counterpart Philip Hammond, Kerry said he was open to\u00a0talks with\u00a0Russia on\u00a0the Syrian crisis, but\u00a0that the bottom-line for\u00a0Washington and London was that the Syrian leader had to\u00a0vacate office.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re prepared to\u00a0negotiate. Is Assad prepared to\u00a0negotiate, really negotiate? Is Russia prepared to\u00a0bring him to\u00a0the table?\u201d said Kerry.<\/span><\/p>\n The New York Times<\/em> elucidated further Washington\u2019s intentions. It reported: \u201c[American] officials indicated that the larger goal was to\u00a0draw the Russians into\u00a0a political process that would ultimately replace Syria\u2019s government of\u00a0President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of\u00a0the Kremlin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesman, has subsequently nailed that Western lie on\u00a0Syria. If Washington insists on\u00a0Assad\u2019s removal, then the US government should repudiate the Geneva Communiqu\u00e9. \u201cOtherwise,\u201d said Zakharova, \u201cthe US is deceiving everybody.\u201d Check!<\/span><\/p>\n This follows the move earlier this month when Russia placed its support full square behind\u00a0the Assad government. Moscow has delivered military aid to\u00a0Damascus in\u00a0line with\u00a0legal bilateral agreements.<\/span><\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin explained that the Syrian government is the primary offensive force against\u00a0the terrorist networks tearing Syria apart.<\/span><\/p>\n Therefore, if Washington and its Western allies claim to\u00a0be fighting against\u00a0terrorism in\u00a0Syria, then they should have no objection to\u00a0Russia\u2019s support for\u00a0the government in\u00a0Damascus. Check!<\/span><\/p>\n Again, the Russian move deftly exposes another Western deception.<\/span><\/p>\n Since Moscow beefed up\u00a0its military support for\u00a0Syria, Washington, London and Paris have been reeling from\u00a0their own contradictions. The West says it is alarmed that Moscow is \u201cshoring up\u00a0the Assad regime\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n But if these powers were genuinely in\u00a0the business of \u201cdegrading and defeating\u201d the so-called Islamic State and other jihadist terror groups, then why should they be alarmed by\u00a0Russia supporting the principal force \u2013 the Syrian government \u2013 in\u00a0the battle against\u00a0the terrorists?<\/span><\/p>\n Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointed out\u00a0that the West\u2019s logic is \u201cupside-down\u201d. He has also commented that the West\u2019s \u201canti-terror\u201d coalition bombing Syria and Iraq does not appear to\u00a0be genuine in\u00a0its ostensible aims. After a year of\u00a0US-led air strikes on\u00a0Syria and Iraq, the terror groups seem to\u00a0be stronger than\u00a0ever.<\/span><\/p>\n Clearly, the West\u2019s \u201canti-terror\u201d strategy is ineffective, suggesting that the real aim of\u00a0the West is to\u00a0further weaken the Syrian state.<\/span><\/p>\n Scrabbling around\u00a0to find some cover for\u00a0its naked upside-down logic, Washington, London and Paris are now saying that they fear that Russia\u2019s military intervention in\u00a0Syria \u201cmay lead to\u00a0an escalation of\u00a0the conflict\u201d or to\u00a0a clash with\u00a0the US-led coalition.<\/span><\/p>\n John Kerry and his Western counterparts have even resorted to\u00a0this oxymoron. Kerry said the \u201croot cause\u201d of\u00a0the refugee crisis assailing Europe is the \u201cconflict in\u00a0Syria\u201d and that is, in\u00a0his view, further \u201crationale\u201d for\u00a0the removal of\u00a0President Assad. How convoluted can you get?<\/span><\/p>\n The four-year-old conflict in\u00a0Syria is so obviously the driver for\u00a0millions of\u00a0Syrian refugees. But the \u201croot cause\u201d that Kerry so deceptively misplaces is the criminal covert war of\u00a0regime change that Washington has launched on\u00a0that country, along\u00a0with the collusion of\u00a0Britain, France, Turkey and the Gulf Arab dictatorships of\u00a0Saudi Arabia and Qatar.<\/span><\/p>\n That US-led regime-change war has involved unleashing thousands of\u00a0terrorist mercenaries on\u00a0Syria. It\u2019s a well-worn American strategy played time and again in\u00a0different parts of\u00a0world down\u00a0through the decades. Ukraine and Yemen are two other current case studies of\u00a0Washington\u2019s covert state-sponsored terrorism. Fiendishly, Western propaganda in\u00a0the form of \u201cWestern news journalism\u201d helps to\u00a0mask what should be transparent criminality committed by\u00a0Washington and its so-called allies and clients.<\/span><\/p>\n Deciphering the West\u2019s lies and deceptions is not always an easy task.<\/span><\/p>\n