So, why does the UK give weapons to Al Qaeda when they could give them to non terrorists, in your view? Is your government simply evil?
What, as opposed to being the good guys ? Did I just step into a cowboy movie ? Let’s leave the Manichean thinking to George Bush and crack open a copy of The Prince for jollies.
On what bases is Putin a new cat in town? President Obama drew the red line, insisted that Assad must go, and spent 500 million dollars training an army of rebels. What could Putin possibly do to thwart President Obama’s goals here?
It is important for President Putin to keep striking fast and furious at US influence in Middle East, and diminish it even further than it’s been done in the last few years. President Obama has only slightly more than a year left as President, and the maximum use of this time must be made. President Putin worked long and hard on accustoming President Obama to defeats and humiliation, and now is the perfect time to reap the benefits of that work. Their recent meeting at UN summit was picture perfect illustration: President Putin informed President Obama that US-backed “rebels” will start getting bombed into smithereens, and all that President Obama could eventually master in response was a later announcement that the US will stop spending any more money on training rebels (a surprisingly good idea from the current US Administration, seeing as the “rebels” are being bombed into the Stone Age by Russian Air Force).
It’s like beating your new wife for the first time–you don’t start by kicking her in the head with your knee: she might strike back or call the police! You start slowly, with a push, a shove, a slap across the face and then you gradually escalate the violence. Once she gets used to it, a knee to the head will hardly even elicit any reaction from her.
It’s the same story here: we reached a point where a knee to the head gets only “sorry, I deserved it, I apologize for arming those pesky rebels that you just killed and I’ll stop doing that” from President Obama. In the next 15 months, President Putin must work on delivering things that’ll make a knee to the head look positively benign. The wife is ready to endure it.
Now, come 2018, the chances are excellent the things will get even better for Russia. In case Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump are elected the next US President, President Putin will hardly miss a beat. Hillary Clinton was easily handled back when she was the US State Secretary, and an agreement surely can be reached with Donald Trump. Only a few right-wing republicans that are still in the US Presidential race could interfere here, but as I understand, their chances of getting elected are slim to none.
Excellent analysis: Obama was in over his head from the beginning. As with most unqualified presidents, he believed the BS that the CIA fed him-which is why we blew $500 million-with 5 trained “rebels” to show for it. Vlad has shown himself to be a master of realpolitik-and Obama to be the fake he always was.
Likening Russia U.S. relations to a domestic violence is as stupid as it is repulsive. “Excellent analysis” my ass.
Russia is a rat that won’t stay dead, I will give Putin credit for that but there is no way Russia will usurp America’s role in the Middle East. They’re nibbling on the stores and leaving telltale feces about the place. Maybe that feels like victory to such a broken nation.
It amazes me how so many people think the US/coalition bombing of ISIL is a stupid and useless policy, but that Putin is a strategic genius for sending troops to Syria.
It shows that the cult of personality extends far beyond Russian borders.
I think we’ve already covered this to death , no? The stupid and useless was spending 500 million dollars on arming 4-5 “rebels”, while insisting that “Assad must go”.
The smart and strategic genius was earning 1.5 billion dollars from arming Syrian army, while insisting that “Assad must stay”.
Even a child can understand who’s an idiot here and who’s a strategic genius.
Now, we just sit back, relax, and watch the US-supported “rebels” getting killed in droves, eventually leaving the West with a choice between ISIS and Assad.
Yeah, the “strategic genius” presides over a shitty economy and is considered as a violent autocrat around the world; while the “idiot” presides over a much stronger and improving economy and is popular and respected around the world.
Putin superfans are weird.
Russia wants Assad to stay, so they send in troops to support him. Who could have concieved such a brilliant strategem???
US wants Assad to go, so they spend 500 millions on arming “4-5 moderate opposition rebels” with the end result that Assad isn’t going anywhere and the rebels are dead. Who could have concieved such a brilliant strategem???
(That was a rhetorical question, we all know who conceived this brilliant strategem, the poor, battered wife…)
very weird analysis, the usa is better liked in the region than it has been in many years, especially since the great disaster for its image that occured under the president bush. why it would be thought that this will make the americans less influential I can not understand. The russians support the clan Assed who no one likes very much at all and this makes the americans look bad? very weird
?? so the master of the realpolitik is the president who alienates all of his neighbors including the turks for no great gains, and makes all of his geographic neighbors to the west of him come closer to the Nato aliance out of distrust?
it seems to me a very bizarre analysis and judgement that is not rooted in any understanding of the actual realpolitik theory.
Lol. Just drop the battered wife thing. Russia has no power over the US at all, let alone the power of an abusive husband. I mean you could maybe stretch and say that about Europe as they get so much oil from Russia.
The U.S. is in a political situation where decisive military action is untenable, so they went with aid and airstrikes. The aid was squandered but that was their only play so it’s hardly a strategic blunder. Besides they can afford a 500m loss. Let’s see how long Russia can afford a real war, unlike their Ukraine cakewalk.
Yeah, Russians don’t get that. To them, America is their big international rival, whereas Americans think of Russia as nothing more than a nuisance, if they even bother to think about it at all. It’s actually kind of funny.
But isn’t it a mistake to talk of Russia alone as they have allies ?
“all EAEU member states participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, an intergovernmental mutual defense alliance.”
Plus China and Iran.
You’re joking,right? Look at the list of members in those organizations and tell me which ones I should make sure to remember.
And China doesn’t have allies. Some countries are under its thumb and on occasion oher countries have shared goals with China.
Hubris ?
I mean, come on, you think the USA will be the world’s last empire ?
No, but Russia won’t be the next one. Or the one after that, for that matter.
OK who’s next ? Interesting question, can Americans or their allies actually conceive a time when they don’t dominate ? I don’t see much evidence of this, yet all great powers have come and gone (except great religious powers - Rome has over a billion subjects).
Maybe it’s a belief in the power of positive thinking, that never acknowledging the possibility of decline will actually keep the ship afloat.