Quote from PiggyBank:
I'm not surprised, it was just a matter of time before the giant ball buster putin tested out obama. Like drunk-all-day biden said when they first got into office "i'm telling u man, u watch, in the first 6 months some foreign power is gonna test our president." it's been a long 6 months but this is that test. Putin has played his hand well so far, obama has no good choices, so neither do we.
Like others have said, are we really going to go to war just so our pres can save face, seriously? We may be the worlds sole superpower, but russia is also a military superpower, maybe equal to us all things considered. Even though we'll look weak the best choice is still to do nothing, i can't imagine sending our guys over there to die for.. nothing. And lets not forget we still have troops in afghanistan and even iraq, we attack assad (a cornered animal) and maybe he retaliates with chem weapons against our troops, in which case we are forced to fight.
I think grandluxe put it best in another thread: "Oh obama.. you fucking idiot."
Putin has been more like a flea up in Obama's nutsack, and now he can also be referred to as a tool.
Obama has some great choices here.
A. Let Putin clean that shit up, like he promises to.
B. Keep on scaring the shit out of Vladdy and Assad by breathing down their necks, showing his guns.
Just because someone says "I'm going to shoot", doesn't necessarily mean they are planning to.
Is it inconceivable that Obama may actually be smart enough to bluff?
It's not like he doesn't have the chips to back it up.
His wagers have to be taken seriously and everyone knows it.
Look. It's actually working.
Russians are resilient, but they are no military superpower either.
They're in worse shape now than they were as the Soviet Union, and we would have cleaned their clocks then had it come down to it.
Why do you think they collapsed to the degraded state they are in?
It's because their bullshit wasn't working for them, and it still isn't.
Their greatest weapon has always been their propaganda machine, which Putin is highly trained in.
Putin and Assad know that the best defense from an American attack is to have the entire democracy against it.
Who knows what Assad is doing to get his comrade Vladdy to plea with the Americans, but I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with affordable health care.
It could just be that Putin owes Assad too many favors.
They are scared of this man, and why wouldn't they be?
He's capable of inflicting some pretty severe damage if he feels the need.
And BTW, I wouldn't start the mass printing of Grandluxe quotes onto t-shirts just yet.
After all, when Obama makes the best choice, and Syria is Putin's pile of shit to deal with; as you have said- Who can blame him for it?
hmmm...