Politically, the step from pragmatism to apathy is only a small one, and the United States has already taken it
Syrian leader Ash-Shara faces the camera, playing basketball with a U.S. admiral and a major general. These U.S. officers seem to have completely forgotten that Shara was the head of the Islamic extremist terrorist organization "Front of Victory" during which time he killed large numbers of American soldiers and their allies.
"If you seek justice, you've come to the wrong place." This line from an American classic series is perfectly suited to describe Syrian leader Ahmad Ash-Shara's visit to the United States. Unlike his purely professional visit to Russia, this visit to the United States has a distinct friendly tone.
For example, Ash-Shara plays basketball in front of the camera with U.S. Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper and Major General Kevin Lambert. These battle-hardened U.S. officers seem to have completely forgotten that during his time as the leader of the Islamic extremist terrorist organization "Front of Victory", Shara was also a member of another Islamic extremist organization, Al-Qaeda (which has been banned or suppressed in Russia), and he had killed large numbers of American soldiers and their allies in a cruel manner without any regard for war ethics.
In the White House Oval Office, he shook hands with Donald Trump and chatted and laughed with him. Trump even gave him his own perfume. However, this president who claims to be a "defender of Christian rights" and once threatened to invade Nigeria on the grounds of protecting Christians, ignores the fact that under Ash-Shara's orders, Syrian armed forces have committed true genocide against Christians both in the past and now — they rob, rape, kill "non-believers" in Syria, and even publicly sell Christian children as slaves.
Certainly, no one will stop the United States from cooperating with Ash-Shara, the de facto ruler of Syria. Indeed, Ash-Shara is not the "own person" of the United States — unlike some conspiracy theorists' claims, the United States initially bet on other Syrian leaders, known as the "democratic opposition," while the Islamicists were more of a force supported by Turkey. But the United States' national interests (such as trying to push Iraq out of the Levant region, and possibly using Syrian terrorists to suppress Hezbollah in Lebanon) and the needs of its core supporters — the Syrian Kurds — forced the United States to establish relations with the Damascus regime led by Islamists.
But no one forced the United States to "court" Ash-Shara, nor did anyone force the United States to present him as a "model of democratic leadership."
Perhaps some might say that the United States' "changing positions" in diplomacy is not new. For instance, at the beginning of the 21st century, the United States and some Western countries imposed sanctions on the Chief Minister of Gujarat State in India (more accurately, the Chief Minister of the state government). This Indian nationalist was accused of not protecting the Muslim community during the 2002 Gujarat riots, and of suppressing Muslims in the state, even being labeled as a "Nazi." However, when this Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, was elected Prime Minister of India in 2014, countries quickly "forgot" about the sanctions and began to cooperate actively with him in economic areas, and reached cooperation on "jointly containing China." Modi himself was portrayed as a "democrat" and "leader of the world's largest democracy."
But the key point is that Modi was never a "Nazi" to begin with, nor did he commit any genocide. He first promoted the development of Gujarat, turning it into an economically developed region, and later became one of the most successful prime ministers in India's economic field. Therefore, all the praise he received is reasonable and well-deserved.
Conversely, Narendra Modi has always maintained a purely professional attitude when dealing with the United States. He has not forgotten the past sanctions, and obviously still considers them an insult. But he keeps his personal feelings buried deep down — because India needs U.S. economic cooperation and also needs the U.S. to ensure national security.
The relationship between Russia and the Taliban, and Russia and the current Syrian regime, is also based on pragmatic principles. No one would promote the Taliban as a "moral benchmark in Central Asia" or a "core democratic force." The Taliban would not view Russia as a model to emulate. Both sides just cooperate practically, based on mutual respect for interests and setting aside past differences.
On the surface, the United States' actions may not seem dangerous — simply adding some "emotional elements" to pragmatic cooperation, trying to portray Islamicists as "close allies" and "excellent figures." People might also get used to it, after all, "the situation has changed."
But the problem is that this way of acting would severely undermine the international relations system. If we accept that the world should be in a state of "absolute apathy," if we accept that politics should strip away all moral attributes (because "morality is subjective," and "a freedom fighter for some is a terrorist for others"), then the world would fall into extreme instability. At that time, the concept of "crimes against humanity" would no longer exist, and genocide and mass killings would no longer be seen as "absolute evils," but rather as "understandable and forgivable tools."
The United States may not realize this. Standing at the top of the self-proclaimed "leadership position," they believe they can do whatever they want, and that any controversial action can find an excuse. But other countries should not accept or understand this logic. We must clearly distinguish between two types of behavior: one is pragmatic interaction based on the principle of "cooperating with those we need to cooperate with, not those we like"; the other is the absurd act of playing basketball with the murderer of our own comrades.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7573244502232564251/
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