Sure and I don't think that is a bad thing at all. We could solve a lot of problems if the US and Russia had more aligned interests. Or even made more efforts to meet halfway.
What the US and Russia both need to worry about now is Assad trying to add preconditions, more meetings, side-issues, and other delaying tactics just to string this out longer. If Assad goes for this, he is essentially allowing the Russians to control his eventual exit instead of the US, the UN, or one of 1,000 militia groups. That is his carrot. He will live a long life in a dreary Russian house in a frigid climate but he will live. The other options are hanging by his own people or life in prison as a war criminal if the UN, NATO, The Arab League or the US orchestrate the ouster. Let the Russians have him. We don't need him and whoever shelters him will not be a friend of whatever strongman ends up in charge of Syria. Snowden may be getting a roommate in the Persona Non Grata dacha in the Urals.
Red, I hate to disagree but Obama's impotent war mongering did NOTHING. If we were gonna do anything we should have done it and said, "Sucks to use chemical weapons." So damn fast they would have had to look twice to see from which trees their there a-holes were hanging. Telegraphing this thing was a military disaster. We then could have said, take note, we don't mess around when it comes to WMD. Are you listening, IRAN? Geez, I really can't believe that Obama, turning it over to our mega-dysfunctional Congress persuaded anyone of anything. Positive. Instead, we f'd the chicken, got embarrassed by my main man Putin, and look like idiots. Well, we have for some time look like idiots to the rest of the world, but looked like even bigger idiots. For those of you that remember, I suggested turning this over to Putin, publicly, immediately after the WMD occurred. No sir, this was NEVER GONNA WORK for the PRESIDENT. It was Nathan Bedford Forrest who stated the key to winning was to "Get there firstest with the mostest" On this debacle, we never even got there.
Red what this did is guarantee to keep Assad in power. Putin played Obama like Hitler played Chamberlain in Munich. What happened today is that the Russians blocked their own proposal in the UN. He also announced through his defense minister that they would sell Assad some more high end anti aircraft systems. does that sound like a loser? To think the threats Obama and the fool Kerry made were responsible for this is a joke. Kerry's own words "a pin prick" gave lie to the threat. The Russians, Assad, Iran and most importantly our key allies see there is nothing behind the curtain. Likewise they know the American people are so against any action congress will never approve it. Putin threw Obama a life vest because he knows Assad is winning the war in Syria and what he did assures the status quo giving Assad what he needs time to finish the rebels. Frankly I think the whole ME is in process of a decades long upheaval that there is little anyone can do to change. The tides of religious, cultural and social hate that has been suppressed for hundreds of years need to be allowed to flow until the people there are ready to settle. The killing in Iraq is only the beginning. For that I am glad this happened but to give Obama credit for being anything but lucky is a joke.
Wrong. Russia wins. Russia is re-establishing itself as a major playa. Assad comes out smelling like a rose. You do know Russia and Syria are allies. If you believe that you are really not seeing things objectively cause if there's ONE THING EVERYONE DOES see is his RELUCTANCE to use it. Did you not follow his "speech about nothing"? This is all about him writing checks his azz can't cash.
Watch and learn. Assad is already on the slippery slope. His biggest fear right now is a revolt within his own conscript military. An absurd comparison. When someone starts invoking Hitler, I know they are desperate. Conservatives just can't accept that Obama knows his business and demonstrates it repeatedly. Do you read any news besides FOX? Your political rhetoric shows and your logic is nonexistent. The threat is real and it still exists and it could still happen. Any fool can see the cause and effect here. Based on what exactly? Be specific. What in the world makes you imagine that Assad is winning the civil war? The rebel forces are getting stronger and certainly are not being defeated in the field. They take more territory every day. Syria's economy is in shambles and they have no borrowing power. How they could buy missiles from Russia is puzzling unless they buy them with Russian aid. They have lost the support of the Arab League and the rest of the Muslim world except for Iran who is in equally bad economic straits. Russia is their only ally and is now trying to save face and jockey for position to have some influence on the new Syria. Why in the world would Putin want to help Obama? He doesn't. Putin's seriously trying to remain relevant in the middle East. Agreed, but we still have Middle East interests to maintain . . . allies to support, enemies to discourage, pirates to kill, terrorists to eliminate, oil to burn, trade routes to defend, bases to utilize, etc. etc. Superpowers cannot just take their dolly and go home. Only to the logically deaf, the ideologically rigid, and the perceptually blind, cuz.
Here you go Red another article NOT FROM FOX saying how the president's political allies see is work here as poor. He has no plan and is going from pillar to post making it up as he goes along. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-09-12-03-37-12
Here is an editorial by one of the president's biggest supporters. It says it all cuz. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...c5f630-1981-11e3-82ef-a059e54c49d0_story.html
