Obama the Genius: Obama Turned Down Russian Offer in 2012 to Force Assad to Depart Syria, Because He Was Sure He'd Fall On His Own

Death toll in Syria when that offer was made: 7,500.

Current death toll: 220,000+, plus millions fleeing to Europe

W.R. Meade:

If true, this was a staggering missed opportunity. The President's string of misjudgments on the Middle East--on the peace process, Erdogan, withdrawal from Iraq, Libya, ISIS as the "J.V. team", and Syria--is one of the most striking examples of serial failure in the annals of American foreign policy.

Generally speaking, what the President seems worst at is estimating the direction in which events are flowing. He thought Erdogan was taking Turkey in one direction; Erdogan was going somewhere else. He thought there was a transition to democracy in Egypt; there never was a prospect of that. He has repeatedly been caught flatfooted by events in Syria. And Putin keeps running rings around him.

Understanding the intentions and estimating the capabilities of people who don’t share his worldview are not our President’s strong suits.

Either the president is incompetent or he is evil; there aren't any other possibilities.

Meanwhile... Russian troops are now helping Assad recapture a key city.

Just because the White House now has its deal with Iran virtually locked up hardly means that Obama intends to "push back" against the Iranian axis, as administration officials argue. In fact, Obama will be just as keen, if not more so, to protect Iranian, and Russian, assets, in Syria and throughout the region. That's because the deal isn’t just about Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. It’s also an instrument through which Obama envisions a broader regional realignment, a "new geopolitical equilibrium," in which Tehran gets an upgrade, while America’s traditional allies, Israel, Saudi Arabia, et al., get downgraded.

Putin is making his move in Syria now, says Tony Badran, research fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, "because he understands not only that Obama would never intervene militarily in Syria, but also because the [deal with Iran] means that the White House wouldn’t challenge Iranian, and by extension Russian, holdings in the region. Moreover, Putin saw that Obama continued to disregard the concerns of his traditional allies, both on the Iranian nuclear program and Syria, when they sought a more active policy to bring down Assad."

posted by Ace at 03:24 PM

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