By doing what? His escalation so far has been increased bombing of the Turkomen rebels in Syria, the announced provision of anti-aircraft missiles to Assad, and cutting off trade with Turkey. There will be no military action taken against Turkey. In that regard, Putin is no fool. He understands the use of force and Turkey will not back down.
He holds all the cards because his opponent is a pussy who can not take casualties of any kind and enjoys little support at home. He also knows it will not escalate to a point whee Obama will have to take real steps as Obama would never have the stones to truly react.
Obama doesn't have to react. Turkey does and will.
Putin has played Obama in every encounter.
Substitute America for Obama. Our nation is the loser. As much as some may take delight and satisfaction out of Putin outsmarting Obama, America's interests are what suffer long after Obama leaves office. I don't have an air of triumphalism from a US defeat. I have a dog in this fight and it is America.
Why would you think he would start losing to Obama over the worst member of an ancient out of date Cold War fossil like the NATO alliance?
Putin fears NATO and would like to destroy it. NATO complicates his plans to restore Russia to the halcyon days of the Soviet Union. I look to Putin to put Article 5 to the test in the Baltic states using similar tactics honed in his takeover of Crimea, i.e., he will defend and protect ethnic Russians in those countries.
I don’t know why you would think I am taking delight in this situation. It is an outright embarrassment and tragedy that we have such a feckless, stupid leader.
No American leader has been shown to be so poorly equipped to deal with leaders on the World stage. This guy makes Carter look good!
Putin certainly harbors no fear of NATO. He has shown that already with his actions in Ukraine, Crimea, Syria and now Turkey. He knows his adversary is lacking testosterone and is weak by self inflicted wounds.
If we are lucky we may be able to reverse the damage Obama has done in the next twenty years.
However, with 50% of the population stupid enough to consider a Hillary presidency I see little hope for the future.
I am heartsick, I have four living sons and they are the ones who will suffer from this man’s insane nonsense.