Oh, all of a sudden it’s “US” that got blindsided.
We don’t need some in-depth analysis to figure this one out. The answer is easy — Obama is president and he’s a naïve fool.
This was probably one of those secret agreements no one could as part of the Iran deal
Nature abhors a vacuum and Obama/Kerry Mideast agenda clearly sucks.
Mon/Wed/Fri - Russians have Syrian Airspace
Tue/Thu/Sat - Americans have Syrian Airspace
Sun - Church for Putin / Golf for Obama
Settled.
As it says below our reply window every time we post,
Loose lips sink ships.
Why should Russians risk the betrayal of their plans? Do we think they did not form their own opinion of this administration’s true sympathies after Benghazi?
Utter chaos is his goal.
Not US, Obama.
This is just scrubama exercising his post-election “flexibility” with the Kremlin.
No surprises here...
Both Obama and Kerry were strong supporters of the Soviet Union. Putin is basically trying to restore what was the Soviet Union. So their fake concerns over what is going on means nothing.
Putin said , Look ,and then kicked Obama in the Skirt
Russia has already achieved its principal strategic goal in Syria: the establishment of a permanent land based military presence. Who they're using it to bomb at any given moment is actually irrelevant compared to that fact. "Anyone they want to" is the correct answer. Nor is this any stunning new development in that part of the world - they watched what worked for the U.S. in Iraq and have implemented it themselves, presumably with a will to remain that turned out to be absent in the 0bama administration, who ignored what we learned while the Russians were relearning it themselves.
It is a little comical as well as profoundly tragic that the current navel-gazers at State are (and have been since Hillary) flailing wildly to attempt to keep track of the shifting alliances within that region - the locals can't do that themselves, it's the nature of the beast. Running weapons to one side and being dismayed at their turning up in the hands of the others is the mark of amateurs who are ignoring the entire history of the region.
There is, however, one piece of logic driving the thing: oppose us and we will bomb you. The Russians are now in a position to do that, a position that the 0bama administration gave up. That is the single fundamental strategic change that has taken place and the Beltway Boys seem a little slow on the uptake.
No one trusts DC anymore and they never will again.
Blind sided? This was predicted several years ago somewhere between Egypt’s ousting Morsei and Hillary’s Libya debacle.
Interesting how Putin and Obama have a face to face meeting and within 24-48 hours Putin embarrasses Obama by embarking on some military type action. Crimea/Ukraine & now Syria. Putin has nothing but contempt for our light in his loafers, girlie man President.
Russia’s Attack Signals Dangerous New Era
September 1, 2008. BY GERALD FLURRY
RUSSIA’S ATTACK ON GEORGIA IN AUGUST MARKS THE BEGINNING OF A DANGEROUS NEW ERA IN HISTORY. This was the FIRST MILITARY STRIKE of a rising ASIAN SUPERPOWER—and there will be more!
It is critical you understand the meaning behind this attack.
(...)
Breaking Promises to Russia
“U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton had promised the Russians that NATO would not expand into the former Soviet Union empire,” wrote George Friedman of Stratfor. “That promise had already been broken in 1998 by NATO’s expansion to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic—and again in the 2004 expansion, which absorbed not only the rest of the former Soviet satellites in what is now Central Europe, but also the three Baltic states, which had been components of the Soviet Union” (August 12).
Today, you have the son of one of those presidents trying to also bring Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. I don’t believe Russia will ever allow that to happen.
(...)
Russia’s Revenge
Russia shrewdly evaluated these events and saw an opportunity.
In not taking action over the Kosovo issue, “Moscow had two motives, the lesser of which was as a tit-for-tat over Kosovo,” George Friedman observed. “If Kosovo could be declared independent under Western sponsorship, then South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two breakaway regions of Georgia, could be declared independent under Russian sponsorship.” Those two breakaway regions have many Russian sympathizers. “Any objections from the United States and Europe would simply confirm their hypocrisy.” In other words, Russia could say, Hey—that’s what you did in Kosovo and the Balkans—you just went in and conquered the whole area! Don’t accuse us for simply doing what you did!
This strategy worked to perfection once Russia invaded Georgia. “The Russians knew the United States would denounce their attack,” Friedman wrote. “This actually plays into Russian hands. The more vocal senior leaders are, the greater the contrast with their inaction, and THE RUSSIANS WANTED TO DRIVE HOME THE IDEA THAT AMERICAN GUARANTEES ARE EMPTY TALK” (op. cit.).
Does Russia fear America? Not very much. And it is using this opportunity to make the U.S. look STUPID AND WEAK BEFORE THE WHOLE WORLD!
Russia had been planning for this invasion for some time. As Ralph Peters wrote in the New York Post, “Let’s be clear: For all that U.S. commentators and diplomats are still chattering about Russia’s ‘response’ to Georgia’s actions, the Kremlin spent months planning and preparing this operation. Any soldier above the grade of private can tell you that there’s absolutely no way Moscow could’ve launched this huge ground, air and sea offensive in an instantaneous ‘response’ to alleged Georgian actions.
(....)
Outmaneuvering America
Melik Kaylan wrote in the August 13 Wall Street Journal about the damage the attack on Georgia will do to the world, especially America. “Having overestimated the power of the Soviet Union in its last years, we have consistently underestimated the ambitions of Russia since. … [F]ew have noticed the direct strategic threat of Moscow’s action to U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Kremlin is not about to reignite the Cold War for the love of a few thousand Ossetians or even for its animosity toward 5 million Georgians. THIS IS CALCULATED STRATEGIC MANEUVERING.”
Maneuvering for what? “[M]ake no mistake, IT’S ABOUT COUNTERING U.S. POWER at its furthest stretch with Moscow’s power very close to home.”
RUSSIA IS CHALLENGING AMERICA. THE SOVIET EMPIRE IS MAKING A COMEBACK! “In effect, we in the West are being challenged by Russian actions in Georgia to show that we have the nerve and the stamina to secure the gains not just of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but of the entire collapse of Soviet power,” Kaylan wrote.
Bo-Rock prefers to talk a problem to death...see how many conferences he has speared on America, beer summits, lectures. It is no surprise to find he attempted to do the same to Putin’s plan. It enjoys talking far too much. Likes to listen to the reverb much more than WTP do. It may be blindness or Diogenes syndrome.
Anybody that was blindsided was not paying attention.
Blindsided? He just walked up and took it...who is gonna stop him, Ghostbusters?