[mojito]

Bathhouse Barry becomes Putty and Bashar's buddy...I mean beotch.

[tcrlaf]

No Air Support for Al Qaeda. Boo-hoo....

[11th_VA]

Get Worse? Only if you’re Al Qaeda ...

[gaijin]

streetwise Barry getting passed around the cell-block like a pack of cigarettes...!

SMART GUY, oh SURE...!

— > Punaho PUNK. < —

[familyop]

Obama works for Mother Church of Russia now (official Church throughout Cold War) and Maronite Church of Hezbollah.

[TigersEye]

...that this is a dishonest ploy by Russia and Syria that boxes in the Unites States and, more importantly, makes any relief for Syria’s civil war far less likely.

Don't be ridiculous. That would mean that Putin played 0bungles like the Jug-Eared Won was a 3 yr. old child.

LOLOL

[Jim Robinson]

"Syria’s plan to give up its chemical weapons could make things worse, not better"

Sure, and this from the same people who say the polar icecaps are melting.

[bigheadfred]

boxes in the Unites States and, more importantly, makes any relief for Syria’s civil war far less likely

...and the crowd goes wild...

[MrKatykelly]

This is people on both sides who hate us killing each other instead of us.

Escalate it now!

[Greysard]

this is a dishonest ploy by Russia and Syria that boxes in the Unites States and, more importantly, makes any relief for Syria’s civil war far less likely

It all depends on the definition of "relief." The best relief one could imagine is lending an overwhelming force to one side, so that the other side stops fighting immediately (it cannot win; it only can die.) Assad is the lesser evil here. If the proposal gets implemented, Syria will be teeming with foreign troops (primarily Russian, of course) and rebels' activities will be seriously curtailed. The war will stop, and the people can start rebuilding. Assad will have to seek political peace, but most likely the regime will stay - because it works well enough. Syrians now know firsthand what the alternative is - and I strongly suspect that they don't want it anymore.

Israel will be also satisfied to have Syria under control of Russia. This will dilute the influence of Iran, since Russia has no plans to "wipe the Zionist entity off the map." Israel and Russia have good relations. Russians and Ukrainians, for example, don't need a visa to go to Israel.

[BenLurkin]

Brookings Institution = notorious nest of pinkos.

[Vendome]

Whatever. I couldn’t care less if we are so called “boxed in” as far as Syria goes.

We’ll get a more serious president next time and an infinitely more compete team.

Let em have this round.

Not worth the trouble given the current bass turds and their phony intellectuals and mindless rope masquerading as high minded morality.

[Oliviaforever]

When Obama should have been tough on the Syrian Regime, Obama was soft.

When Obama should have been diplomatic with the Syrian people, Obama threatened mass violence.

[ZOOKER]

With Russian keeping Assad in charge, Gazprom continues its stranglehold on the European gas market. The Russian Navy keeps its seaport in the Mediterranean. Better or worse? Neither, it's status quo. There's an outside chance it would actually be worse for Russia, who've had bad luck trying to dominate Muslim nations like Chechnya and Afghanistan. I expect they'll let Assad run the country and stay in the background as much as possible.

With the Russians backing Assad, I expect the Syrian rebels to fade into the woodwork. Assad will never be well-beloved but I expect he will be more tolerable. The rebels know with Russian and UN "inspectors" in the country there's no possibility of US airstrikes and definitely no US boots on the ground. Better? For me, yes - since I don't want our troops anywhere near the place. It's not worth one drop of our soldiers' blood.

For the Saudis and Qataris, I suppose it's worse. Their pipeline is back on permanent hold, and they're boxed out of the European market. That's not bothering me too much, though.

For Israel? Better, I suppose. Assad is a known enemy, if he was deposed his successor would probably be hardline anti-Semitic. You could say that if Assad holds onto his job Syria could be an island of stability in a volatile region.

For Iran, Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, et al, it's worse I suppose. These organizations seem to thrive on disorder and weak government. With Assad in charge there's no power vacuum for them to fill.

[Seeing More Clearly Now]

Well, Barry’s puppet masters are probably already onto the next scenario in trying to destabilize the world.