View Full Version : Putin Didn't Save Obama-He Beat Him
lolol It's gone past embarassing...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/putin-didnt-save-obama-he-beat-him_753730.html
With the Russian proposal on Syrian chemical weapons, the United States is being escorted out of the Middle East.
Maybe Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin really did discuss the idea of putting Syrian chemical weapons under international control last week on the sidelines of the G20 conference. Putin sure doesn’t care that Obama’s taking credit for the proposal, or that the administration is posturing like a Mob enforcer. “The only reason why we are seeing this proposal,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney, “is because of the U.S. threat of military action.”
Right, Putin is laughing to himself. Whatever. If Obama wants to sell it like a Christmas miracle on Pennsylvania Avenue that’s fine with Putin, because Putin won.
Reset with Russia was originally a strategic priority for the Obama administration because it saw Moscow as the key to getting Iran to come to the negotiating table. Putin, from the White House’s perspective, was destined for the role of junior partner. Now Putin has turned “Reset” upside down. By helping Obama out of a jam with Syria, Putin has made himself the senior partner to whom the White House is now beholden. Accordingly, when Putin proposes the same sort of deal with Iran, with Russia having established its bona fides as an interlocutor for Syria, Obama is almost certain to jump at it.
What’s unclear is whether Obama understands that his foreign policy legacy will be to have ruined the American position in the Middle East, our patrimony of the last seven decades. If the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran signaled weakness, the Russian deal screams surrender. The real surprise is that it’s not Iran kicking the United States out of the region under Obama’s watch, but Putin.
Snip
Putin is the one who really deserves that Nobel Peace Prize (http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/10/putin-is-one-who-really-deserves-that-nobel-peace-prize/) - K.T. McFarland
TacOfficer
09-10-2013, 15:17
I was going to post some thoughtful and in depth synopsis/opinion on the current state of affairs vis a vis the US, Russia and Syria situation.
Forget it now! This idiot is so turned around he doesn't know which way is up.
Heh Dorothy! You're not in Kansas anymore (Chicago)! These players are not going to roll like some store front reverend.
Just about everyone here predicted something like this would pop up and he would be woefully outgunned. Guess W. ain't looking so dumb now, eh.
Beat him like a drum...
Smoked him like a Havana...
Played him like a fiddle...
....half expect Susan Rice to come out crying about some damn video causing the ruckus...AGAIN !
Putin sucks...but IMO he played this administration - this time.
Does anyone think Carter would have screwed the pooch this bad?
Does anyone think Carter would have screwed the pooch this bad?
Nope.
Carter at least had some leadership experience (Annapolis, Gov of GA) and I don't think would have let a situation like this get as far as it did .... Barry has none, zip, zilch, nada.
Putin did to Obama what Jesse Jackson wanted to.
Trapper John
09-11-2013, 05:55
But the French are standing with us! :rolleyes:
Broadsword, I think the telling thing in your post is first thing I would have done is consult my advisors, asking them, "Is there anything substantive we can do to Syria if they actually use chemical weapons?" and then depending on what the options were, formulate my statement after that.
The problem here is that he did and as we all know he has surrounded himself with advisers that are yes men/women. Susan Rice? Really?
David Gergen, made a comment last night after the speech saying in effect O had no clue on what direction to take and the confusion in his advisers was evident. This tells me that his "advisers" look to see what way his leaning and then take a position in support. Some advisers?
Fools, the whole damn bunch are fools! When are we going to realize that the "Emperor has no clothes"?
Broadsword, I think it was arrogance and disdain not just for the American public, but the rest of the world. He is THE MOST arrogant President I have ever seen. Yes, he is surrounded by yes men and women, but I don't think he believed that any country would ever stand up and gainsay him telling him him they would act against him. I think he was a little bit shocked. And his inexperience at leadership is painfully obvious. Hopefully this has awakened the people that voted him into office.
I don't think it's arrogance. I think the man is so far over his head he doesn't know he's drowning.
Foreign policy by gaffe - it is a technique that sometimes works; sometimes doesn't. Will it work for this situation or is the BHO administration's political teflon wearing too thin?
Meanwhile, latest polls show a majority of Americans are strongly in favor of sending Congress to Syria.
Richard
Badger52
09-11-2013, 08:04
I don't think it's arrogance. I think the man is so far over his head he doesn't know he's drowning.Just flipped across CSPAN to catch him glad-handing a line, sans coat, at Pentagon 11 September ceremony this morning. Smiling, quipping, he's in perpetual campaign mode at an event where a sitting or former POTUS should display quite the opposite demeanor. It's the only thing he knows how to do and does it well, and his handlers love him for it.
Bolts slamming home, gun & ammo purchases, and public resolve have caused him to blink before; this time the impetus was both foreign & domestic. Most of his 'crew' is in the same fix. But I'm sure the Nobel committee will trumpet about how right they were.
Broadsword, I think it was arrogance and disdain not just for the American public, but the rest of the world. He is THE MOST arrogant President I have ever seen. Yes, he is surrounded by yes men and women, but I don't think he believed that any country would ever stand up and gainsay him telling him him they would act against him. I think he was a little bit shocked. And his inexperience at leadership is painfully obvious. Hopefully this has awakened the people that voted him into office.
“It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly, and for the most part sincerely, assured of their greatness. They live in an artificial atmosphere of adulation and exaltation which sooner or later impairs their judgment. They are in grave danger of becoming careless and arrogant." - President Calvin Coolidge
I mean it shouldn't take much in the way of leadership experience or knowledge to at least know that. Maybe I am missing something though. I like to think that some things the POTUS does that seem incredibly stupid are just because I don't have all the facts, but it really seems like he is incredibly stupid and/or naïve on some things. Which is odd, as he can't be stupid to have the education he has.
The key here is education...What is an education? There is far more to it than having a lambskin. Education is a process of attaining knowledge and the ability to use the knowledge, to learn how to think and operate in a way to achieve a desired result.
There was a captain I spoke with once, he was studying towards his masters degree. When I asked him what kinds of books that he read, he said that he didn't read books for anything but college. I cannot respect intellectually a leader who doesn't learn to ensure the survival of his troops, rather than the advancement of his career. (General MadDog Mattis wrote an excellent article on the subject) After all in our society many are more concerned if people with a certification from an accredited diploma mill, than their ability to think.
Another question that must be asked regarding the POTUS's education, is it possible that he cheated on some of his college courses, tests, papers? That could cause a gap in thinking ability. None of our Presidents since I've been alive are free from scandal or measure of hypocrisy(I know I'm not). Reagan had an astrologer, Clinton a draft dodger, Dubya used coke...
What I perceive is a lack of wisdom, the art of living skillfully. Once upon a time a man without a college degree said, in the abundance of counselors there is wisdom, and when the wicked advisors are removed from the kings presence his reign will be secured by justice.
Think of the dynamics of a small tight knit group such as an ODA or very tight section, if a team member were to start dealing coke or other nefarious activity, if it were not quashed and the cancerous activity stopped and removed, it could spread to other members of the team....Be not deceived bad company corrupts good morals. My understanding is that integrity is one of the cornerstones in SF, hence why I hold them in higher esteem than most.
Is integrity a word that you would readily attribute to the President? How about his cabinet and advisors?
What kind of influence do the people who surround the POTUS have on him?
ddoering
09-12-2013, 06:43
Maybe Obama should offer the Syrians free healthcare if they quit fighting.......
Is Putin haunted by the ghosts of Chechnya? Is this why Russia won't give up on Syria?
Richard
The Real Reason Putin Supports Assad: Mistaking Syria for Chechnya
ForeignPolicy, Mar 2013
Few issues better illustrate the limits of the Obama administration’s “reset” with Russia than the crisis in Syria. For more than a year, the United States has tried, and failed, to work with Russia to find a solution to end the violence. Moscow has firmly opposed international intervention to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power, arguing that the conflict must be resolved through negotiations and that Assad must be included in any transitional arrangement leading to a new government. Although the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, reached out recently to the leaders of the Syrian opposition, these talks produced no indication that the Kremlin is seriously recalibrating its positions on Syria. And that’s hardly surprising: the main obstacle to any shift in Russia’s calculations is President Vladimir Putin himself, whose aversion to forcible regime change is intense and unwavering.
Why has Putin offered such steadfast support to Assad? On the surface, Moscow seems to profit from exporting arms to Syria, and it depends on the regime’s good will to maintain Russian access to a naval facility at the Mediterranean port of Tartus. But these are marginal and symbolic interests. Putin is really motivated to support the Assad regime by his fear of state collapse -- a fear he confronted most directly during the secession of Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, which he brutally suppressed in a bloody civil war and counterinsurgency operation fought between 1999 and 2009.
(Cont'd) http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139079/fiona-hill/the-real-reason-putin-supports-assad
Get a copy of Our Man In Tehran (http://www.amazon.com/Our-Man-Tehran-Ambassador-ebook/dp/B004CFAZQS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380150098&sr=1-1&keywords=our+man+in+tehran) by Robert Wright and read the first two chapters. Excellent comparison between President Carter's missteps and the repetition 30 years later.