Over at PJ Media (via RaymondIbrahim.com), I shed light on the pleas to Obama from the spiritual leader of 150 million Orthodox Christians:
While many were fixated on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent letter to the American people, another letter from another Russian leader””this one directly addressed to the U.S. president””was missed.
On September 10, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill issued a letter addressed to “His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama, President, United States.” Whether one wishes to interpret this communique as a product of politics or sincerity, it accurately highlights the plight of Syria’s Christians, especially in the broader context of a larger civilizational struggle.
I repost major portions of the letter below, interspersed with my observations for added context:
Your Excellency, Dear Mr. President,
The tragic events in Syria have raised anxiety and caused pain in the Russian Orthodox Church. We receive information about the situation there not from the news reports but from living evidence coming to us from religious figures, ordinary believers and our compatriots living in that country.
This is an important point: the “news reports” evaluated by the Russian church are from “living evidence coming to us from religious figures, ordinary believers and our compatriots living in that country.” The fact is, outside of America’s biased “mainstream media,” the evidence concerning what is going on in Syria””namely, that Islamic militants are committing human rights atrocities, including possibly the chemical attacks in question””is overwhelming. Countless eyewitness testimonies, videos, pictures””all those things that rarely make it to the U.S. MSM””make this abundantly clear.
Ask the average Syrian about the current turmoil engulfing their land””and I have, as have numerous Russian Orthodox representatives in communion with Syria’s ancient Christian community, as noted by Kirill””and few have any illusions as to its nature: an authoritarian, but secular, Assad vs. radical Islamists and jihadis.
Naturally most Syrians choose Assad.
Only in America, and to a lesser extent Western Europe, is the myth of “freedom fighters” trying to “liberate” Syria still being peddled.
Patriarch Kirill:
Syria today has become an arena of the armed conflict. Engaged in it are foreign mercenaries and militants linked with international terrorist centres. The war has become an everyday golgotha for millions of civilians…. There is much more, read it all