Suddenly, Mr. Putin has eclipsed Mr. Obama as the chaffeur driving the agenda, in the Syrian crisis.

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Suddenly, Mr. Putin has eclipsed Mr. Obama as the chaffeur driving the agenda, in the Syrian crisis.

Posted By: Bob [Send E-Mail]
Date: Thursday, 12-Sep-2013 16:20:20

He is offering a potential, if still highly uncertain, alternative to what he has vocally criticized as America’s militarism, and reasserted Russian interests in a region, where it had been marginalized, since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although circumstances could shift yet again, Mr. Putin appears to have achieved several objectives, largely at Washington’s expense. He has handed a diplomatic lifeline to his longtime ally in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad, who not long ago appeared at risk of losing power and who President Obama twice said must step down. He has stopped Mr. Obama from going around the United Nations Security Council, where Russia holds a veto, to assert American priorities unilaterally. More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/world/europe/as-obama-pauses-action-putin-takes-center-stage.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 _________________________________________________