The flip side is that the reason there was a military outcome is because Obama et al would not allow the elders to have their way.
We have considerable fog obscuring the scene but it appears reaction to serendipitous events precipitated the favorable result.
Obama did not let the elders have their way, but on the other hand, he turned his back on his own principles and ideology. It was military might that finally ended the crisis, not negotiations. Apparently even Obama can see that negotiations weren’t the solution in this situation. I wonder if he’ll be so pragmatic though with the Iranians and N. Koreans.
In any event, I don’t think he is really entitled to pat himself on the back, unless he wants to admit that military force worked when negotiations did not.
In other words... Obama did not solve this problem... Jack Bauer solved this problem.