US Analysts Conclude: Yes, Obviously, Russia Is Attacking US-Aligned Fighters, Not ISIS

Putin's totes acting from a position of weakness.

Read Allah's analysis. Here's some key language from the WSJ's report.

U.S. officials said Russia’s targeting of its allies on the ground was a direct challenge to Mr. Obama's Syria policy. Underlining the distrust, the Pentagon decided against sharing any information with Moscow about the areas where U.S. allies were located because it suspected Russia would use that information to target them more directly or provide the information to President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"On day one, you can say it was a one-time mistake," a senior U.S. official said of Russia’s strike on one of the allied rebel group’s headquarters. "But on day three and day four, there's no question it's intentional. They know what they’re hitting."
...
The first strike on [CIA-backed Tajamu al-Ezzeh] came at 9 a.m. on Sept. 30, catching its fighters off guard. Seventeen more strikes were launched against the group over the first three days of the Russian campaign, injuring 25 of Ezzeh's fighters. Some of the injured had received CIA training, according to their commander, Maj. Jameel al-Salih. Four strikes on the first day targeted Ezzeh's headquarters…
Members of the [rebel] brigades said in interviews they believed they were being targeted by the Russians to weaken the moderates, without whom the West would have to accept Mr. Assad's continued rule. The other rebel groups on the battlefield are too radical for the West to work with, they said.

Of course, Syria may not be the endgame here. Weaklings are provocative to bullies, and Obama's as sissy a weakling as they come.

So Putin may have bigger ambitions in mind: Like OPEC itself.

Mark Mills, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writes:

Three facts motivate Putin. First, two regions utterly dominate world oil markets. The Middle East and Russia together ship 60 percent of all oil traded (45 and 15 percent, respectively). Meanwhile, American firms are by law prohibited from engaging in this vital global marketplace; more on this shortly.
Second, oil matters. It provides 97 percent of the global fuel needs for all the engines that transport everything on land, sea and air. No viable substitutes exist at any price for liquid hydrocarbons at the scale society needs. And the world will consume more oil, not less, as far into the future as it matters for sensible policymaking.
Finally, price matters. Here the U.S. has upset the apple cart. Entrepreneurs using new technologies have unlocked a shocking increase in oil supply. U.S. shale fields have recorded the fastest increase in oil production in history. As a result, crude prices have collapsed from north of $100 to south of $50 a barrel. The emerging consensus? Cheaper oil is the new normal.
How does Syria matter? While it's no oil-producing powerhouse by OPEC standards, even Syria's paltry production accounted for 25 percent of that nation's economy (although ISIS now controls most of Syria's oil fields). But Syria is ideal transit territory for pipelines to European markets for oil or gas originating in Iraq and Iran.
More important, given the build-up of Russian military men and materiel in Syria, is geography. Damascus is closer to Baghdad than Washington is to Boston, and not much further away from Riyadh than New York is from Chicago. Russia's military is now no longer deployed mainly on its Baltic borders but is in the world's premier petroleum neighborhood.
Russia is not an OPEC member and has often claimed no desire to join. But they may have just joined by default.

America's best diplomatic force is the Seventh Fleet, and I'm sure Russia's best diplomats are currently building airbases in Syria.

Obama likes to claim that Putin's acting out of "weakness" because the low price of oil, plus sanctions, have hurt Russia's economy.

Okay, let's say he acted to correct that weakness: What keeps him now from driving the price of oil up to whatever high price is required to pour money back into the Kremlin's coffers?

Stigma as an Argument: Great piece by Bret Stephens on our petty, weakling president.

David Petraeus testified last month to the Senate Armed Services Committee on U.S. policy in the Middle East. Regarding Syria, the former general and CIA director urged a credible threat to destroy Bashar Assad’s air force if it continues to bomb its own people. He also recommended "the establishment of enclaves in Syria protected by coalition air power, where a moderate Sunni force could be supported and where additional forces could be trained, internally displaced persons could find refuge, and the Syrian opposition could organize."
But Barack Obama does not agree. At his Friday press conference, the president described such views as "mumbo-jumbo," “half-baked ideas," "as-if" solutions, a willful effort to "downplay the challenges involved in the situation." He says the critics have no answers to the questions of "what exactly would you do and how would you fund it and how would you sustain it."
America’' greatest living general might as well have been testifying to his shower drain for all the difference his views are going to make in this administration.
So it is with this president. It’s not enough for him to stake and defend his positions. He wants you to know that he thinks deeper, sees further, knows better, operates from a purer motive. His preferred method for dealing with disagreement is denigration. If Republicans want a tougher line in Syria, they’re warmongers. If Hillary Clinton thinks a no-fly zone is a good idea, she’s playing politics: "There is obviously a difference," the president tut-tutted about his former secretary of state's position, "between running for president and being president."

The president is quite clear that his only ambition is to be a Commander, United National Territory, and a little one at that.

Posted by: Ace at 04:41 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 1st

Posted by: mallfly at October 06, 2015 04:39 PM (qSIlh)

2 1
1st

Posted by: mallfly at October 06, 2015 04:39 PM (qSIlh)

Posted by: Drunk Kid at October 06, 2015 04:39 PM (1DH1V)

3 This doesn't happen if we are still in Iraq. Just saying.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 04:39 PM (gmeXX)

4 Okay, let's say he acted to correct that weakness: What keeps him now from driving the price of oil up to whatever high price is required to pour money back into the Kremlin's coffers?

Spot on. America was about keeping the oil flowing, to keep the prices low, because it's been a net importer; Russia, a net exporter, has the precise opposite interest.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, down with Eph 6:12-13 at October 06, 2015 04:40 PM (9krrF)

5 Don't sell. That smart diplomacy will pay dividends soon.

Posted by: fb at October 06, 2015 04:40 PM (JVEmw)

6 Is Ace on some of that quality Endoran meth today?

Posted by: so much content at October 06, 2015 04:41 PM (ZtFr+)

7 yaaay.
and now for something completely different, at least until next year: UK Daily Mail (saw on WZ, I think):

Sweden in flames: As gangs of migrants riot for five nights running... the Utopian boats of a multicultural success story turn to ashes

http://tinyurl.com/obhfmfy

Posted by: mallfly at October 06, 2015 04:41 PM (qSIlh)

8 Okay, let's say he acted to correct that weakness: What keeps him now from driving the price of oil up to whatever high price is required to pour money back into the Kremlin's coffers?

Spot on. America was about keeping the oil flowing, to keep the prices low, because it's been a net importer; Russia, a net exporter, has the precise opposite interest.

------

So - advantage, Texas.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 04:41 PM (gmeXX)

9 Where's the three dimensional Checkmate?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 04:41 PM (WAX3V)

10 Putin's running WAY more air strikes this month than the SCOAMT has run all year.

smart power.

Posted by: WaldoTJ at October 06, 2015 04:43 PM (M1MpJ)

11 Just wait till Obama draws a line in the red sand. Putin will be quaking in his swimming pool behind Assad's house in no time.

Posted by: mallfly at October 06, 2015 04:43 PM (qSIlh)

12 A dead muzzie is a dead muzzie. I know that is a "...ist" of some kind statement.

It does not matter who's bombs or bullets get em. They are no longer alive to terrorize the rest of the World.

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Old and unimproved. at October 06, 2015 04:43 PM (dOD0J)

13 That dumbass Putin is on the wrong side of history. He's acting stupidly.

Posted by: Furious George at October 06, 2015 04:43 PM (UlJ3l)

14 Putin plays 3d Chess whilst Ogabe plays a Banjo....

//Deliverance Kid

no seriously Obama and HILLARY! are both playing for OPEC too...

it's why they hate the shale boom.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at October 06, 2015 04:43 PM (g8Hfr)

15 Putin's running WAY more air strikes this month than the SCOAMT has run all year.

smart power.

-------

Putin lives in the real world. There is no such thing as smart power. Just power.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 04:43 PM (gmeXX)

16 Ace is En Fuego....

Posted by: donna at October 06, 2015 04:44 PM (hUdMz)

17 Choom Gambit.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 04:44 PM (WAX3V)

18 Barack Obama is a SCOAMT.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) - Fire-hooks and Rock Salt for sale at October 06, 2015 04:44 PM (kff5f)

19 Burn it down.
Scatter the stones.
Salt the earth where it stood.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) - Fire-hooks and Rock Salt for sale at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (kff5f)

20 Crap. I hadn't even thought about Putin putting an arm-bar on OPEC... but he doesn't lack for nerve or moxie, does he?

Shit.

Posted by: Toastrider at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (MbjKe)

21 Putin plays 3d Chess whilst Ogabe plays a Banjo....

------

Putin is playing checkers. Its a simple game.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (gmeXX)

22 If I had a really mean neighbor who scared me and caused me to wet my pants, he would look like Vlad.

Posted by: Low Information President at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (UlJ3l)

23 The only problem is with the Russian Economy. Will it stay afloat long enough to keep the bombs dropping until the job is finished?

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Old and unimproved. at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (dOD0J)

24 re 15: remember in early 2009 when our new Sec of State Hillary Rodham Clueless said we were going to replace Bush's cowboy diplomacy with Smart Diplomacy?

Yeah, good.

Posted by: mallfly at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (qSIlh)

25 According to Obama, Putin is acting from weakness and poor self___. According to Putin, all that may be true but he will feel lots better when he controls middle eastern chokepoints and oil supplies.

Posted by: MTF at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (LISuA)

26 This doesn't happen if we are still in Iraq. Just saying.

Or didn't dither in Libya and Syria in the first place.

Almost as if a strong foreign policy is necessary to prevent bad actors from acting badly.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) - Fire-hooks and Rock Salt for sale at October 06, 2015 04:46 PM (kff5f)

27 The way Obama lured Putin into this trap is Machiavellian. We are witnessing a true artist at work. A maestro of strategy.

Posted by: Gristle Encased Head at October 06, 2015 04:46 PM (1RNgT)

28 Can I ask again what evidence- aside from crap that found its way out of John McCain's mouth- do we have that the people we are backing in Syria are really moderates or secular? Cause I remember when we first got involved that there was a heck of a lot pointing to the rebels basically just being ISIS.

I am not a Putin fan, and generally regard his goals as likely opposed to our own, however I'm finding it really hard to believe our government when the Russians just the other day blew up a fricking ISIS base that our betters claimed we took out something like a year ago. Who the heck is lying there? And how sad is it that we're trying to figure out who is more trustworthy between Vladimir fricking KGB Putin and our own government?

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 04:46 PM (KkVB6)

29 20 Posted by: Toastrider at October 06, 2015 04:45 PM (MbjKe)

The gambit to run would have been to leverage the Sauds against the Iranians to nutpunch terror and keep Iran from getting the candles....

of course ValJar works for Tehran so instead we stand around with our dicks in our hands.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at October 06, 2015 04:46 PM (g8Hfr)

30 Or didn't dither in Libya and Syria in the first place.

Don't forget Us!

Egypt...

Posted by: donna at October 06, 2015 04:46 PM (hUdMz)

31 The world is afire and President Peace Prize wants to eat his waffles. In Oregon.

Posted by: Anna Puma at October 06, 2015 04:47 PM (C6cTZ)

32 According to Obama, Putin is acting from weakness and poor self___. According to Putin, all that may be true but he will feel lots better when he controls middle eastern chokepoints and oil supplies.

-----

I'll actually agree with Obama somewhat on that statement. The difference is that is when bad things happen. That is the time to be concerned.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 04:47 PM (gmeXX)

33 28 Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 04:46 PM (KkVB6)

None as in "zero."

Juan Queeg and Ogabe wanted to arm "Isis Lite"...

I'm actually pulling for Assad b/c he was and is at least a known evil.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at October 06, 2015 04:47 PM (g8Hfr)

34 Obama is smarter, much smarter than you think. That's why he wants more gun control. Oh, and refugees.

Posted by: mallfly at October 06, 2015 04:48 PM (qSIlh)

35 Since this is all coming out of the corrupt Obamanites I don't believe it. I say let Russia have Syria, there are no good guys there. And the so-called rebels that we are helping there are Al Qaeda. Leave it to Obama to aid our enemies and I don't give a shit that Russia is bombing them.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at October 06, 2015 04:48 PM (t2KH5)

36 We should send that drunk kid to be our ambassador of Russia.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 04:49 PM (gmeXX)

37 Well, duh. This why most sane folk would call them 'enemy'. Because, they are, like, our enemies. Except, in this case, our real enemies are the mohamadans, and our logical allies are any non-mohamadans. See. Was that so difficult? You're welcome.

Posted by: Eromero at October 06, 2015 04:49 PM (go5uR)

38 I'd be nice to know how many "moderate" Syrians there are? 50, 60? Few thousand?

Putin supports Assad, Obama supports those who wish to depose Assad. Why shouldn't Putin attack who Obama supports?

My understanding is that these moderate rebels are actually the closest to Damascus geographically. It seems the right play for Putin to attack them first.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at October 06, 2015 04:49 PM (LXJ1e)

39 While the Russians may get the benefit of the oil dividends mentioned in this piece, do not discount the very real possibility that they are genuinely motivated to destroy ISIS--they just differ with the US in how to accomplish that. Russia has always taken Islamic jihadism much more seriously than the West--going back 1000 years.

Posted by: Czar Peter at October 06, 2015 04:49 PM (rCtmF)

40 Syrial you guys.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 04:49 PM (WAX3V)

41 All your presidents ass belong to us- Vlad

Posted by: The Jackhole at October 06, 2015 04:50 PM (3mTyP)

42 I'd be nice to know how many "moderate" Syrians there are? 50, 60? Few thousand?

Well no matter how many there are/were there are less now... and the russians are gonna make sure there will soon be none..

Way to go Fredo

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 06, 2015 04:50 PM (gf8BH)

43 17
Choom Gambit.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 04:44 PM (WAX3V)

I was gonna get Iraq some nukes, until I got high.

I was gonna disarm repukes, but then I got high.

America won't back me up and I know why, yeah.

'cause I got high, 'cause I got high, 'cause I got high.

Posted by: Barack Obama at October 06, 2015 04:50 PM (1DH1V)

44 Question: High oil prices mean that becomes more profitable to extract from shale and other deposits that we're not doing currently. Shouldn't Russia be trying to keep oil prices down so their percentage of the oil market stays large?

Or is there something else I'm not getting.

Posted by: joe at October 06, 2015 04:50 PM (KUaJL)

45 Does U.S. Aligned mean they are bent over?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 04:50 PM (WAX3V)

46 39 Posted by: Czar Peter at October 06, 2015 04:49 PM (rCtmF)

Take Obama at his word "we've deployed the cream of moderate Islam in Syria" (all 50 guys)

Take Putin at his word "fuck the rebels whether ISIS or CIA backed" (boom)

Putin wins.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at October 06, 2015 04:51 PM (g8Hfr)

47 The 1980s wants its foreign policy back - Barakanahten 1

Posted by: The Jackhole at October 06, 2015 04:51 PM (3mTyP)

48 You know part of the problem is that a lot of the "US aligned" fighters in Syria are also ISIS aligned fighters. I'm surprised there still are any US backed fighters there since for quite some time the only story you would hear about them is "US backed rebels surrender/join ISIS."

Posted by: Buzzion at October 06, 2015 04:51 PM (z/Ubi)

49 First link leads to campus rape.

Posted by: dIb at October 06, 2015 04:51 PM (HYAmq)

50 Makes a difference when the leader of your country wants your country to win, and acts accordingly.

Posted by: brak at October 06, 2015 04:52 PM (xwPSp)

51 Where's the three dimensional Checkmate?

-
Obama's playing delusional hallucination chess.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at October 06, 2015 04:52 PM (fFIVI)

52 12 A dead muzzie is a dead muzzie. I know that is a "...ist" of some kind statement.

Muzzist

Posted by: Tronald Dump at October 06, 2015 04:52 PM (oDFTq)

53 47 The 1980s wants its foreign policy back - Barakanahten 1
Posted by: The Jackhole
____________

And I want my jerseys back from those JV players.

Posted by: Kobe Bryant at October 06, 2015 04:52 PM (UlJ3l)

54 Here is is the flyers Russia is dumping over Syria http://tinyurl.com/p5agckh
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/p5agckh">http://tinyurl.com/p5agckh</a>

Posted by: Sho Nuff at October 06, 2015 04:52 PM (24rcg)

55 Uggghh. someday I will figure out how to make a link

http://tinyurl.com/p5agckh

Posted by: Sho Nuff at October 06, 2015 04:53 PM (24rcg)

56 Putin doesn't do ambiguous sex. He does it bareback riding bareback on a bear.

He doesn't even give BHO a reacharound.

Posted by: dIb at October 06, 2015 04:53 PM (HYAmq)

57 Should've went with bear's back.

Posted by: dIb at October 06, 2015 04:53 PM (HYAmq)

58 So, Russia is bombing US trained Syrian forces.

But didn't the US Syrian forces (all six of them) already surrender to ISIS?

So... if they are bombing US trained forces, aren't they consequently bombing ISIS?

/also... remind me again why we need to get rid of Assad? Can I now chant "No more Blood for Oil" to my libtard friends and be cool?

Posted by: shibumi, RIP USA at October 06, 2015 04:55 PM (JkjdY)

59 >>>Russia Is Attacking US-Aligned Fighters, Not ISIS

Don't members of the "rebel" group periodically defect to ISIS? We shouldn't be "helping" any of these groups. We should be concentrating on getting rid of ISIS. These people are just as bad as Assad, just not in power. They've slaughtered Christian communities, IIRC. I really don't care at this point if Russia is working against "us" there, since "our" side is supporting an evil cause.

What a POTUS. I never thought I'd be siding with Russia against the actions of our own government.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at October 06, 2015 04:55 PM (E5UB0)

60 I'm sure Keith Olbermann when he's back on MSNBC will really hold the president accountable for his foreign policy.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 04:55 PM (Ypc8j)

61 Sweden in flames: As gangs of migrants riot for five nights running... the Utopian boats of a multicultural success story turn to ashes

http://tinyurl.com/obhfmfy

Posted by: mallfly

Again, that's from 2013.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at October 06, 2015 04:56 PM (JmGFJ)

62 Right now Putin's got a foot-long onion-dome dildo wedged up Obama's ass, chucked in the Sawzall.

We are not doomed, yet, but my God are we embarrassed.

Posted by: JEM (sometimes The Devoceleraptor) at October 06, 2015 04:56 PM (s2LSa)

63 Frankly, I don't see the upside to exporting our oil.

Didn't we learn anything from the Arab Embargo?

If you give an enemy a stick to beat you with, don't be surprised if they use it one day.

Let's keep our oil here. Put it in the strategic reserve.

Anyone going to say it will never ever need to be used?

I didn't think so.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at October 06, 2015 04:56 PM (x3GpS)

64
Allow Russia to take over the middle east, and destroy Western Civilization. I can easily see the piece of crap in the white house doing that on purpose, not just because he is a pantywaist.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at October 06, 2015 04:56 PM (ItDg4)

65 Putin said all along that his primary purpose for being in Syria was to buck up Assad. It was Jugears who decided that the Russians and Iranians should be there to do the job he decided was too delicate in bombing ISIS

Putin does seem to at least pretend to be concerned over the genocide of Christians in Syria, whereas with King Putt the elimination of Syrian Christians is a feature, not a bug.

If Russia wants to go in there and kill everything that says "Allah Akbar" I won't be too bothered by it, and frankly I'm sick of having Americans bleeding all over the world to protect the interests of multinationals, rent seekers, and elites interests which most of the time don't match up with the people sending the troops and paying their way.

Posted by: kbdabear at October 06, 2015 04:56 PM (GrXXa)

66 59 Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at October 06, 2015 04:55 PM (E5UB0)

It's a brave new world for certain.

I trust a ~~Soviet~~ Russian thug more than our American ~~President~~ Thug...

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at October 06, 2015 04:56 PM (g8Hfr)

67 The Saudis want Assad gone and a friendly gub;mint in place because....
wait for it......

Oil Pipeline going all the way to energy hungry Europe. A lot cheaper than Super Tankers.

So yes. This is a war for Oil.

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Old and unimproved. at October 06, 2015 04:57 PM (dOD0J)

68 How can you tell heavily armed ISIS terrorists from heavily armed Al Nusra terrorists? Who cares?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 04:57 PM (WAX3V)

69 "No war for Oil!!!! US out of Iraq and Afghanistan!!!!"
- Progressives

Oh, wait --- we never got oil out of the deal.
And now that they got their wish and Obama has pulled out....Russia is waging a war for oil.

*headslap*

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 04:57 PM (NOIQH)

70 Let's keep our oil here. Put it in the strategic reserve.

------

Why? Are we not using it? Why not sell it?

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 04:57 PM (gmeXX)

71 So if it is a sign of weakness for Putin to bomb Syrian rebels, is it a sign of weakness for Obama to bomb the Taliban in Afghanistan?

Posted by: Make America Great Again at October 06, 2015 04:58 PM (LXJ1e)

72 Paolo is banging your wife..... out of weakness.

Posted by: wooga at October 06, 2015 04:58 PM (x9NcI)

73 Let Saudi Arabia achieve their own goals or not. This has nothing to do with us.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 04:58 PM (WAX3V)

74 It's true. The man has no dick.

Posted by: Aviator at October 06, 2015 04:59 PM (c7vUv)

75 This is your world....and this is your world on Chooom!

Posted by: Mr.KnowItAll at October 06, 2015 04:59 PM (uJK1E)

76 >>How can you tell heavily armed ISIS terrorists from heavily armed Al Nusra terrorists? Who cares?

Yeah, someone had posted last week that the WH considered AQ in Syria as "moderates", so....not sure how virtuous the so-called "good guys" picked by Obama are.

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 04:59 PM (NOIQH)

77 Putin does seem to at least pretend to be concerned over the genocide of Christians in Syria, whereas with King Putt the elimination of Syrian Christians is a feature, not a bug.

*****

No idea if it's true, but I've end in several places that Russia is just about the only country that's been willing to take in Christian refugees from the ME. Our fcuk head in chief sure as hell ain't gonna do it, but lord knows we have to let in all those military aged Muslim men "fleeing Syria."

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 04:59 PM (KkVB6)

78 I will solve this problem as soon as I finish my advance copy of American Horror Story: Hotel. Lady Gaga is in this season!!!!!!!

Posted by: Barack Obama at October 06, 2015 05:00 PM (LYCUN)

79 Get Vlad to bomb the refugees.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:00 PM (WAX3V)

80 I'll bet even Putin's little miniature giraffe is laughing at TFG for his weakness.

Posted by: Sir Furuncle of Buttock at October 06, 2015 05:00 PM (LUgeY)

81 So basically Obama really doesn't want to do anything and no matter who says what, he will ignore and belittle them.

Posted by: Tilikum Killer Assault Whale at October 06, 2015 05:00 PM (hVdx9)

82 >>So if it is a sign of weakness for Putin to bomb Syrian rebels, is it a sign of weakness for Obama to bomb the Taliban in Afghanistan?

We should not quibble with Obama's 5-dimensional chess trash-talking Jedi mind-tricks.

The important thing to remember is that Russia is on "the wrong side of history."

Posted by: Your MSM at October 06, 2015 05:01 PM (NOIQH)

83 CIA training does NOT include making sure you wake up before an impending airstrike.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at October 06, 2015 05:01 PM (4ErVI)

84 So basically Obama really doesn't want to do anything and no matter who says what, he will ignore and belittle them.

Yeah. Pretty much.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) - Fire-hooks and Rock Salt for sale at October 06, 2015 05:01 PM (kff5f)

85 Anna, I believe that you have to clarify that as President Peace Prize IV, or III, if Carter really counts.
Jimmy got his after being President, 2002 IIRC.

Teddy.
Woodrow.
(Jimmy).
Choomster.

Posted by: GBruno at October 06, 2015 05:01 PM (u49WF)

86 68 How can you tell heavily armed ISIS terrorists from heavily armed Al Nusra terrorists?

One is fighting Assad (al Nusra). The other is trying to fight everyone except Assad. Less than 10% of ISIS's attacks have been directed against the regime. There's a reason for that.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:01 PM (Ypc8j)

87 Can you imagine that the leader of a country is lying to the world??? (oh....yea.....nevermind)

Posted by: Mr.KnowItAll at October 06, 2015 05:01 PM (uJK1E)

88 The wrong side of history called, but then hung up when I picked up the phone.

Posted by: Grump928(c) at October 06, 2015 05:02 PM (evdj2)

89 We are all being played here.

Low oil prices are good for the economy, but really low prices (which the KSA and some whiney friends in OPEC, is doing to the world) were meant to hurt Russia and hurt the Shale-oil frackers in the US.
And then get the oil prices back up next year.

Those moderate Sunni rebels. Yeah, those guys. Can't tell a playah without a CIA handler.

We have no dog in this hunt, we have no stake in this game (at the moment). Either Obama really knows this and this is all make believe, or he is playing along with Russia, and the target over the horizon is Israel.

With the new "Intifada" starting up and backed by.....Iran, soon Iran will actually have troops near the Israeli border. Not just the Hez, but the real Iranian Army (okay, don't laugh too hard). Which could be backed up by Russian Air Power.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at October 06, 2015 05:02 PM (RFeQD)

90 At some point, it might be worth it to sell to bring the market price down.

But the US is THE consumer of oil next to China. Why sell our oil cheap?

Let's wait and sell it when it could put Russia or some other country's plans for domination on the side lines.

Selling it now only helps the other countries as it limits what we can use later and for a better price.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at October 06, 2015 05:03 PM (x3GpS)

91 Hey Obama. The 80s are calling. They want to replace another ineffective, pathetic excuse for a President with a real leader.

Posted by: Laugh it up, Fuzzball! at October 06, 2015 05:03 PM (Es7YA)

92 I don't go to summits with Putin for the diplomacy.

Posted by: Barry at October 06, 2015 05:03 PM (c7vUv)

93 Let's do a thought exercise. Suppose Russia becomes the sole hand on the leash holding Iran back from developing nuclear weapons. Suppose Russia then has a heart-to-heart with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, et al, and says what a shame it would be if Iran got nuclear weapons and went all 12 Imam on its Arab neighbors. Suppose Russia hinted that such a thing could never happen to a group of Gulf Arab countries who, in the interest of global stability, cut back their oil production so that world prices shot up and Russian oil was once again worth more than the cost of production.

Just suppose.

Posted by: stuiec at October 06, 2015 05:03 PM (eetvJ)

94 Yo!

Posted by: Yo! at October 06, 2015 05:03 PM (GwIKd)

95 >>So basically Obama really doesn't want to do anything and no matter who says what, he will ignore and belittle them.

Shorter Obama: "I meant to do that!"

(say it with a Pee Wee Herman voice for full effect)

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 05:03 PM (NOIQH)

96 Russia should liberate Palestine from the racist apartheid zionist regime.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:04 PM (WAX3V)

97 Just the thought of so many patriotic Americans backing Trump and Putin over the shit in DC should give someone some pause. The idea that we support Putin to kill our own country's failed policies should mean something to someone.

Representative government, my left nut. And remember, if voting could change anything, they wouldn't allow it.

Posted by: Jake from Planet State Farm at October 06, 2015 05:04 PM (msVAP)

98 Little boy Barky can't wear me!

Posted by: overly stretched jock strap at October 06, 2015 05:04 PM (CanRu)

99 Why sell our oil cheap?

-----

Because thankfully in America, the US doesn't own our oil (well all of it anyway).

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 05:05 PM (gmeXX)

100 None of these countries are even in the New England Patriot's Division.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:05 PM (WAX3V)

101 Actual news op-ed headline this week:

"Putin has embarrassed us all in Syria. Welcome to the age of Russian power"

Horseshit. I am not in the least bit embarrassed by this. I doubt there are many genuine conservatives in the dextrosphere who are. This was a wholly predictable consequence of this administration's dithering and weakness and coddling of Islamists.

What is genuinely embarrassing is the ongoing clown show in D.C.

It's not just Obama, Kerry, Biden, Brennan, Power, Rice, Pataki, Harf and company. It's worse than that by far.

It's that the complete lack of shame or professionalism amongst the snooze media are helping to disguise for the public what Obama's policies have resulted in: an utter rout, and the total collapse of regional influence, and the permanent loss of U.S. diplomatic and military credibility not just regionally but globally.

It's that the Beltway Republicans have abandoned all but the smallest pretense of acting as an actual opposition party. And that what the only critiques of Obama's policies consists of on the GOP side is barking-mad nonsense from the likes of Grahamnesty and McInsane, a vague and undirected screeching hawkishness without an attainable set of strategic goals.

And even more dismaying is the way in which the upper ranks of the American military have saluted and clicked their heels and lamely attempted to implement a policy which it must be clear to the greenest newly minted lieutenant j.g. will not work and can not work. Political generals like Marty Dempsey and Lloyd Austin are a disgrace to their uniforms and their service.

Strong horse, weak horse. The timeless formulation of the Middle East. Putin is proving his Russia to be a strong horse. As for who the weak horse is, one guess.

Posted by: torquewrench at October 06, 2015 05:06 PM (noWW6)

102 What is left in Syria to bomb? It's got to be getting to the point where we are bombing big piles of rubble, into little piles of rubble....

Posted by: Mr.KnowItAll at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (uJK1E)

103 By the end of the current administration, no previous ally will ever trust us again, and every enimy will walk all over us.

...

"not with a bang, but a whimper"

Posted by: The War Hat at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (vBeA5)

104 93 ...Suppose Russia hinted that such a thing could never happen to a group of Gulf Arab countries who, in the interest of global stability, cut back their oil production so that world prices shot up and Russian oil was once again worth more than the cost of production.
Posted by: stuiec
___________________

That's stupid. Who cares? Fossil fuels are the past. Algae and wind power and solar power are our future.

Posted by: Low Information President at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (UlJ3l)

105 Secretariat of State is the weak horse.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (WAX3V)

106 Vlad took Barry's jalapeno bacon mac n cheese.

Nom nom nom.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (oVJmc)

107 Robert J. Leffingwell could stop this.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (2lndx)

108 Not to worry. Wait until Putin learns he's on the wrong side of history.

Posted by: Me, That's Who at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (0Hj5x)

109 >>The idea that we support Putin to kill our own country's failed policies should mean something to someone.

Well, NRO's Jim Geraghty just wrote that he hopes the next GOP Speaker of the House is super conservative and gets abysmal deals with Obama...just so that he can point and laugh at conservatives for ousting Boehner. Supporting Obama to spite conservative voters.

So...there's a lot of that 'rooting for the enemy of my enemy' crap going around these days.

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 05:08 PM (NOIQH)

110 Putin is pissing on our lawn.

Posted by: AmishDude at October 06, 2015 05:08 PM (Xd2w5)

111 With the new "Intifada" starting up and backed by.....Iran, soon Iran will actually have troops near the Israeli border. Not just the Hez, but the real Iranian Army (okay, don't laugh too hard). Which could be backed up by Russian Air Power.

Then the odds of some sort of "accident" goes way, way up. And I don't think that would bother TFG nor his MBro cabal one bit.

Posted by: Sir Furuncle of Buttock at October 06, 2015 05:08 PM (LUgeY)

112 108 Is there a Downfall Video yet?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:08 PM (WAX3V)

113 So Putin does not lift the silver dumbells like the US president?

Posted by: Yo! at October 06, 2015 05:08 PM (GwIKd)

114 This assinine. Russia is attacking anyone who is fighting against Assad. That includes American backed fighters who by the way are also indirectly and in some cases directly aligned with ISIS. Iran has been fighting ISIS for a year and right now are serving as Russia's ground troops. ISIS will move out of Syria to avoid Russian attacks and concentrate more in Iraq. Russia will not overtly go into Iraq but the way we've recently abandoned Iraq, I expect the Iraq government to accept more assistance from Putin than we would like.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at October 06, 2015 05:08 PM (TAkZ9)

115 Wilbur!

Posted by: Zombie Mr. Ed, a weak horse at October 06, 2015 05:08 PM (RFeQD)

116 >>>Putin's running WAY more air strikes this month than the SCOAMT has run all year.

------------------------------
All Obama's running is that big mouth of his.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at October 06, 2015 05:09 PM (E5UB0)

117 "Can I ask again what evidence- aside from crap that found its way out of
John McCain's mouth- do we have that the people we are backing in Syria
are really moderates or secular?"

I look at the Islamic Middle East and I cannot think of a more perfect "kill them all, let God sort them out" environment. In a perfect world, the morning after would involve the Kurds and the Israelis deciding where in the vast, empty desert to draw the border between them.

Posted by: Qoheleth at October 06, 2015 05:09 PM (iIzG7)

118 Political generals like Marty Dempsey and Lloyd Austin are a disgrace to their uniforms and their service.

^^^^

Forgive me, but it seems to me like the current crop of generals are all more interested in pushing women and gays and trannies onto the fighting force in order to expand "social justice" than they are about figuring out how to fight fricking wars. I hate disparaging the military, but these guys are doing us no favors.

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 05:09 PM (KkVB6)

119 Are they bombing the hospitals in Syria?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:10 PM (WAX3V)

120 Since President Peace Prize IV hasn't ever backed the right people, I'm OK with Vlad cleaning up Syria for a while. But just until Shrillary lays out her master plan. I'm sure it will have something to do with making guns illegal in the Mideast.

Posted by: GBruno at October 06, 2015 05:10 PM (u49WF)

121 All Obama's running is that big mouth of his.

In fairness, he also drew lines.

Posted by: Grump928(c) at October 06, 2015 05:10 PM (evdj2)

122 #BringBackOurCredibility

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at October 06, 2015 05:10 PM (oVJmc)

123 and Russian oil was once again worth more than the cost of production.

and US fracked oil,
and Israeli offshore oil,
etc...

Posted by: DaveA at October 06, 2015 05:11 PM (DL2i+)

124 "What is left in Syria to bomb? It's got to be
getting to the point where we are bombing big piles of rubble, into
little piles of rubble....

Posted by: Mr.KnowItAll at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (uJK1E)

They can stop when there are nothing but small pebbles left. Wouldn't hurt my feelings at all. In fact maybe I should start a gofundme to make sure the Russian Air Force doesn't run out of bombs.

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Old and unimproved. at October 06, 2015 05:11 PM (dOD0J)

125 I hate Obama more than I've ever hated a leader but Putin is not a defender of Western Civilization. He's a kleptocratic thug from a long line of Russian thug dictators. I'm disgusted by some of the pro-Putinism I've been hearing. Saying "Obama's a corrupt thug" is a true statement but that doesn't add to Putin's credit. Sometimes the enemy of our enemy is still our enemy.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:11 PM (Ypc8j)

126 Pacification is our profession.

Posted by: Russian Aerospace Forces at October 06, 2015 05:11 PM (gmaUh)

127 >>Are they bombing the hospitals in Syria?

I don't think Russia cares if they happen to hit a few hospitals. They never seem to suffer a lot of hand-wringing over casualties.

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 05:11 PM (NOIQH)

128 Petty people gotta be petty.

As an example, I give you Barack Obama.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 06, 2015 05:11 PM (VPLuQ)

129 I resent the implication that I look like a weak horse.

I have reported for duty!!

(thud)

Posted by: John Kerry, Secretariat of State at October 06, 2015 05:12 PM (RFeQD)

130 He's a kleptocratic thug from a long line of Russian thug dictators.

Putin noted that the Middle Ease is full of leaders who are cruel, but not stupid. I think he fits right into that.

Posted by: Grump928(c) at October 06, 2015 05:12 PM (evdj2)

131 I look at the Islamic Middle East and I cannot think of a more perfect "kill them all, let God sort them out" environment. In a perfect world, the morning after would involve the Kurds and the Israelis deciding where in the vast, empty desert to draw the border between them.

Posted by: Qoheleth at October 06, 2015 05:09 PM (iIzG7)

Times a million!

Posted by: Velvet Ambition at October 06, 2015 05:13 PM (R8hU8)

132 President Choomster has been a lot more flexible....since the election.

As promised.

Posted by: GBruno at October 06, 2015 05:13 PM (u49WF)

133 So...does the "Pottery Barn" rule apply to Putin: You break it, you buy it?

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 05:14 PM (NOIQH)

134 I thought keith was stuck in his bathtub still.

Posted by: Killerdog at October 06, 2015 05:14 PM (CanRu)

135 Putin isn't just a kleptocratic thug, he's a murdering kleptocratic thug.

Basically, the world is resorting to "normal," i.e. kakistocracy, i.e. "government by the worst citizens."

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at October 06, 2015 05:14 PM (bLnSU)

136 In the Ice Age movies, Obama would be Sid the sloth.

Posted by: Count de Monet at October 06, 2015 05:14 PM (JO9+V)

137

Bullshit.
Putin's objective is to eliminate all of Assad's enemies, which includes ISIS.

But obama and the warmongers want us to believe Putin is the bad guy here so we'll ramp up the intervention on behalf of removing Assad for the Muslim Brotherhood (the political arm of ISIS, I believe).

Meanwhile, obama is bombing hospitals in Afghanistan...

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:15 PM (Twaz5)

138
Putin sucks. Assad sucks. Obama sucks. ISIS sucks.The dark, nasty part of me wishes they would all get eaten by tiger sharks, to be honest.

Posted by: lurkingestlurker at October 06, 2015 05:15 PM (k8xvx)

139 Well, good people, can we all now agree that it was ubama's owners plan all along to destroy America, and civilization? It matters not how they do it. They're doing it before our eyes.

Posted by: Eromero at October 06, 2015 05:15 PM (go5uR)

140
Post subtitle:

NASA Says They Discovered Water On Mars!!!

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:16 PM (Twaz5)

141 Yes, Putin wants to control ME oil with a nuclear Iran. To an anti-American like Obama, this is just and good. Utopia is sure to follow.

Time to get frackin'.

Posted by: pj at October 06, 2015 05:17 PM (cHuNI)

142 135 Putin isn't just a kleptocratic thug, he's a murdering kleptocratic thug.

People praising him seem to be ignoring the suspiciously large list of murdered independent journalists in his country. I'm sure it's just a very convenient coincidence for Putin.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:17 PM (Ypc8j)

143 I made water in my Depends.

Posted by: Joe Biden at October 06, 2015 05:17 PM (WAX3V)

144 I don't think anyone is pro Putin. I think it is more realistic thinking that neither side in Syria are the good guys and that ISIS is on one of those sides. Stopping ISIS from potentially taking over Syria is a good thing in my opinion.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at October 06, 2015 05:18 PM (TAkZ9)

145 Saying "Obama's a corrupt thug" is a true statement
but that doesn't add to Putin's credit. Sometimes the enemy of our enemy
is still our enemy.

Posted by: Naes

Obama's strategy to this point has been obscure and counter productive. The immense amount of bleeding will continue until someone actually stops it.

Assad is bad
Al Nusra Front is bad
ISIS is bad
Iran is bad

Okay, who do we support? We had a foothold in Iraq, but that was squandered.

I am not "for" Putin, but I am against the US getting involved at this point, because we have no strategic direction and there is no one in Washington (in power) that can be trusted.

We have all been played (and lied to).

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...a rube in America at October 06, 2015 05:18 PM (RFeQD)

146 "Meanwhile, obama is bombing hospitals in Afghanistan..."

For extra fun, permit yourself the luxury of imagining the thermonuclear shitstorm of incredibly outrageous outrage which would have burst forth from the left if BOOOOOOOOOOSH had blasted the shit out of Doctors Without Borders.

But when Obama does it? Not the tiniest little squeak of upset.

Posted by: torquewrench at October 06, 2015 05:19 PM (noWW6)

147 Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:17 PM (Ypc8

Who is praising him?

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at October 06, 2015 05:19 PM (TAkZ9)

148
Putin wants to keep Assad in power.

obama wants to replace Assad with radical muslim (scuz-lim) terrorists.

Hmmm, who should I support??

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:19 PM (Twaz5)

149 138
Putin sucks. Assad sucks. Obama sucks. ISIS sucks.The dark, nasty part of me wishes they would all get eaten by tiger sharks, to be honest.
Posted by: lurkingestlurker at October 06, 2015 05:15 PM (k8xvx)

+1

And really, like I said up thread, how fricking bad is it that I'm not even pulling for our own government here. I don't believe them when they say these rebels are "moderates". I don't believe them when they say they will be better than Assad, and that's saying something because that guy's bad news. I don't even know if we can trust what our own government says any further than we can trust Putin, who is also bad news. This is just a debacle of epic proportions and it's all created by our Asshole in Chief.

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 05:19 PM (KkVB6)

150 News bulletin: Ashley Judd has been sexually harassed AGAIN. This time by a director. I am surprised she is not blaming Bill Cosby.

Posted by: ChristyBlinky, aging supermodel Redneck Queen at October 06, 2015 05:20 PM (LJ4iV)

151 Meanwhile, American firms are by law prohibited from engaging in this vital global marketplace; more on this shortly.

Hmm, I wonder how that works?

Posted by: Sir Furuncle of Buttock at October 06, 2015 05:20 PM (LUgeY)

152 137 Bullshit.
Putin's objective is to eliminate all of Assad's enemies, which includes ISIS.

No. Putin's goals, if you bother to look at his history in Ukraine and Georgia, is to partition the country and create a rump puppet state of West Syria. He knows Assad will never rule the entire country again. He could give two shits about ISIS. If ISIS ceases to attack Assad and focuses on Iraq or the Kurds, they will be left alone.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:20 PM (Ypc8j)

153 O/T:

Unusual object on Mars

https://youtu.be/ZGtWIGBqI6c

Posted by: Saurons Mommy at October 06, 2015 05:20 PM (scOkk)

154 BTW, Putin is as passive-aggressive as Obama is.

I like to see Obama and Putin as rival mean girl cheerleaders in an 80s comedy.

Posted by: AmishDude at October 06, 2015 05:21 PM (Xd2w5)

155
No, torquemadawrench, not even Code Pink is upset -- but they're a terrorist organization under the obama/soros terror org umbrella

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:21 PM (Twaz5)

156 News bulletin: Ashley Judd has been sexually harassed AGAIN.

Isn't Her Puffiness getting a little long in the tooth for anything sexual?

Posted by: Grump928(c) at October 06, 2015 05:21 PM (evdj2)

157 People praising him seem to be ignoring the suspiciously large list of murdered independent journalists in his country. I'm sure it's just a very convenient coincidence for Putin.
Posted by: Naes

---------------------------------------------

We should send him our journalists. They don't need the threat of murder to be ass kissing propagandists for the current government regime.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at October 06, 2015 05:22 PM (E5UB0)

158 News bulletin: Ashley Judd has been sexually harassed AGAIN. This time by a director. I am surprised she is not blaming Bill Cosby.

If the incident is recent, I would chalk it up to wishful thinking on her part.

Posted by: AmishDude at October 06, 2015 05:22 PM (Xd2w5)

159
Are they bombing the hospitals in Syria?
Posted by: Boss Moss

Weekly Standings - Hospitals Gunshiped into Flinders
---------------------------------------------------------
Putin: 0
Obama: 1

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at October 06, 2015 05:23 PM (kdS6q)

160 Not sure if you can call it harassment if there are no negative repercussions if you decline. Judd claims a studio owner said he cd help her career and wd she like to watch him take a shower. She said no. End of story. Now, any proposition is seen as harassment???

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at October 06, 2015 05:23 PM (iQIUe)

161 147 Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:17 PM (Ypc8

Who is praising him?

Not on this board but other conservative websites like American Thinker. It had a gushing article just today about his supposed devout Christianity.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:23 PM (Ypc8j)

162 Perhaps Putin is looking at a bigger objective, say, like replacing the US dollar as the default currency for the oil trade.

China already announced that it will trade oil in yuan.

Its a significant change in global trade and not a a good one for the US consumer and price stability

Posted by: dirty comma at October 06, 2015 05:23 PM (BeQwJ)

163 156 News bulletin: Ashley Judd has been sexually harassed AGAIN.

Isn't Her Puffiness getting a little long in the tooth for anything sexual?
Posted by: Grump928(c) at October 06, 2015 05:21 PM (evdj2)

Or puffy in the face.

Posted by: AmishDude at October 06, 2015 05:23 PM (Xd2w5)

164 Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:20 PM (Ypc8j)

So you rather ISIS take over all of Syria?

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at October 06, 2015 05:23 PM (TAkZ9)

165
where's the puffy scamper guy been?

Posted by: simplemind at October 06, 2015 05:23 PM (xVRrG)

166 are you kidding with that unusual object on mars?

Posted by: ace at October 06, 2015 05:24 PM (dciA+)

167
Of course Putin cares about ISIS!

He's not gonna let those barbaric savages foil his plans.

Yes, you're right: Putin has designs on controlling large parts of the world. That doesn't mean he's gonna allow ISIS to run rampant in his domain. Quite the contrary.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:24 PM (Twaz5)

168 I am not "for" Putin, but I am against the US getting involved at this point, because we have no strategic direction and there is no one in Washington (in power) that can be trusted.

We have all been played (and lied to).
Posted by: Bossy Conservative...a rube in America
-----------------------------------------------
Yes, that's kind of where I was coming from, Naes. I don't like Putin, but I like whom we're supporting even less.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at October 06, 2015 05:24 PM (E5UB0)

169 does the "Pottery Barn" rule apply to Putin: You break it, you buy it?

Nope - immoral murdering thug exception, says so right in the Geneva Conventions.

Posted by: DaveA at October 06, 2015 05:25 PM (DL2i+)

170 Meanwhile, oil hit $49/bbl today. Vlad has a plan.

Posted by: GBruno at October 06, 2015 05:25 PM (u49WF)

171 Wait, Ashley Judd's puffy scamper is on Mars?

Posted by: simplemind at October 06, 2015 05:25 PM (xVRrG)

172
We should send him our journalists.

Here, here!

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:25 PM (Twaz5)

173 157 Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at October 06, 2015 05:22 PM (E5UB0)

Quite, so Putin's a bad guy b/c "press relations."

Funny our "independent media" shows me Putin may have the right idea...

Urkle hits America's dick with a hammer and our newsies coo.

Posted by: Sven S Blade a.k.a. El Assassin@sven10077 at October 06, 2015 05:26 PM (g8Hfr)

174

I agree with a lot that the Horde is sayng about Syria but on Russia....
Putin still is a bad guy, and his interests are directly opposed to ours in the short and long run. That doesn't mean we need to support "rebels" against Assad or go to war in Syria.

On thought?People who are suspicious of what our government says...but shouldn'talso we be suspicious about what Putin's saying? Or do we just mistrust American power?

Putin, for all the talk,doesn't give a flying shit about Christians in the Middle East, or radical Islam, his own country,or anything else really unless it hurts or helps him, unless it gives him more power or threatens or takes power away from him.
Ifradical Islam really worried him,he wouldn't be supporting Iran for goodness' sakes. He wouldn't be selling them advanced surface to air missile systems.

More than that, look at Chechnya. As long as he has Kadyrov on his side, and as long as the Chechnyans aren't killing Russians or trying to get rid of Kadyrov,he doesn't really care that the country is an Islamist sh!thole state. "Do what you want, just don't piss me off" appears to be the standing attitude.

This is a power grab, just as Georgia and South Ossetia were power grabs, just as Ukraine was a power grab. Russia is backing Iran, and setting up hardware in country that has jack and shit all to do with fighting ISIS and everything to do with setting up another puppet government and another territorial foothold. Assad is like as not to become another Kadyrov.

And we will have a Russian foothold in a key oil area. Just lovely. But hey, at least he still embarrasses Obama, and that's what really matters,right?

Posted by: lurkingestlurker at October 06, 2015 05:26 PM (k8xvx)

175 Obama is a proven liar

He says the are moderates, but I don't believe him

Posted by: Yo! at October 06, 2015 05:26 PM (GwIKd)

176 Forgive me, but it seems to me like the current crop of generals are all more interested in pushing women and gays and trannies onto the fighting force in order to expand "social justice" than they are about figuring out how to fight fricking wars. I hate disparaging the military, but these guys are doing us no favors.

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 05:09 PM (KkVB6)

They're just doing what will get them promoted. It's all about the career for them; if their next star required they have to bend over on national TV while wearing a tutu and chaps while Barry porks them in the keister, they'll do it. They don't give two loose shits about the people that have to go into combat.

Posted by: Country Singer at October 06, 2015 05:27 PM (nL0sw)

177 or go to war in Syria.

------

I don't think I have seen many morons advocate we go to war in Syria.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 05:28 PM (gmeXX)

178 If the pipeline rumor is true, what we would be sending troops and spending billions for would be to eventually pick and protect a puppet and the pipeline so that Europeans could feel smug in their cheaply heated flats while feeling morally superior to those "Cowboy Warmongering Americans who steal brown people's oil!!"

Europe wants cheap and plentiful gas? Let them dodge IED's and car bombs while spending billions protecting that pipeline.

There are thousands of square miles from Brownsville to San Diego that could use the attention of American military assets.

Posted by: kbdabear at October 06, 2015 05:28 PM (GrXXa)

179 164 So you rather ISIS take over all of Syria?

The Sunnis will eventually take Syria from the Alawites. It's inevitable. Russian and Iranian won't stop that. It may be 5 or 10 or 20 years from now. But Assad is about as sustainable at this point as White Rhodesia. And I don't recall saying or implying I prefer ISIS but nice strawman. The best thing to do is get ME Christians into Lebanon.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:28 PM (Ypc8j)

180 Yes, you're right: Putin has designs on controlling large parts of the world. That doesn't mean he's gonna allow ISIS to run rampant in his domain. Quite the contrary.
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:24 PM (Twaz5)

In Putin's defense, Russia and neighboring countries *is* large parts of the world.

Making it so that your neighbors don't export problems to you is part of a nation's explicit purpose.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at October 06, 2015 05:29 PM (0NdlF)

181 Posted by: lurkingestlurker at October 06, 2015 05:26 PM (k8xvx)

So I'll ask you the same thing. Would you rather have ISIS control all of Syria?

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at October 06, 2015 05:29 PM (TAkZ9)

182 166 are you kidding with that unusual object on mars?

Posted by: ace at October 06, 2015 05:24 PM (dciA+)

Yeah, what's so unusual about an American flag?

Posted by: Sheila Jackson Lee (D) at October 06, 2015 05:29 PM (EHU9F)

183 I suggest you guys stop with this treason or I will get my boss David Brock after you.

Posted by: Brad Woodhouse at October 06, 2015 05:30 PM (OD2ni)

184
What gets me is most of the men of fighting age left Syria. So who's left??

It's a mess over there, created by obama. Can Putin make things worse? I doubt it. Can obama's and obama's idiots in the Pentagon continued meddling make things worse?

Yes.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:30 PM (Twaz5)

185 Actually the deterrent I've seen employed by Obama's Spokesidiot is that the Russians may just have more PROBLEMS with Islamic terrorists and other unintended consequences if they go and prop up Assad.
So the Russians may have to think twice aboutthe consequences of Obama having told them so.

Posted by: Ex NYC Peasant at October 06, 2015 05:30 PM (k8tEg)

186 Ben Carson is in disfavor with the leftards. He has evolved on gun control. Does not favor stricter gun laws. I like that guy more and more.

Posted by: maddogg at October 06, 2015 05:30 PM (xWW96)

187
Putin's goals....is to partition the country and create a rump puppet state of West Syria.
Posted by: Naes

Partitioning, along ethnic or reasonable geographic lines is just what that neck of the woods needs.

Defending the arbitrary borders drawn up by European empires to smite the dastardly Ottomans is an unending game for suckers.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at October 06, 2015 05:30 PM (kdS6q)

188 If the pipeline rumor is true, what we would be sending troops and spending billions for would be to eventually pick and protect a puppet and the pipeline so that Europeans could feel smug in their cheaply heated flats while feeling morally superior to those "Cowboy Warmongering Americans who steal brown people's oil!!"

Yeah, the moral preening of Europe is done under a very large umbrella.

Posted by: AmishDude at October 06, 2015 05:31 PM (Xd2w5)

189 Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:28 PM (Ypc8j)

Nice strawman about a strawman. I asked not whether you support ISIS but rather whether you preferred they control Syria rather than Russian influence ?

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at October 06, 2015 05:32 PM (TAkZ9)

190 It's been a long day. Free drinks don't start for another hour...

Posted by: Lea at October 06, 2015 05:32 PM (hN7uD)

191 Obama: hey Vlad you are bombing the wrong guys !

Putin: so what

Posted by: Yo! at October 06, 2015 05:32 PM (GwIKd)

192
There is obviously a difference between being an enemy-assisting traitor and being President.

...

Wait a minute....No, there isn't. Not in this case.

No difference at all.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 06, 2015 05:32 PM (0cMkb)

193 China already announced that it will trade oil in yuan.

Announcing it is one thing, getting real oil traders to believe you'll run a better currency than the Fed given the PLA's track record is another.

Posted by: DaveA at October 06, 2015 05:32 PM (DL2i+)

194 You wingnutz can't possibly understand the deeply complex mult-faceted and finely nuanced strategy that I am subtly rolling out here.

It's really not unlike the Footnote Gambit I engineered at the Law Review in 91, or maybe it was 90? ... there were so many triumphs in those days... anyway, as I recall, there was one faction that insisted Ibid was correct while a splinter faction was no less insistent that the correct citation form was Id . Then, really out of nowhere, this third group raised the issue if punctuation. Do we use periods or not? Well, I don't have to tell you that it taxed even my formidable negotiation skills to iron that out...

History really is quite fortunate I am where I am at this fulcrum of fate...

Posted by: Barky OBismarck at October 06, 2015 05:33 PM (lzj+T)

195 Who would have ever thought that President Barry Obama could unite Israel and Saudi Arabia toward a common cause.

11-d dimensional geopolitical Grandmaster, indeed.

Posted by: Fritz at October 06, 2015 05:33 PM (3tjn4)

196 Don't forget the bennies Putin gets at home from the Orthodox church for defending the Christendom.

Posted by: Jean at October 06, 2015 05:34 PM (ztOda)

197 Putin didn't defeat the jihadists in his country. Most of them just left for greener pastures like Afghanistan and now Syria. Thousands upon thousands of Chechen jihadists make up the ranks of ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the rest of the Jihadist groups. Chechens are regarded as the best trained, most psychotic, contingent out there.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:34 PM (Ypc8j)

198
Meanwhile, obama wants to continue the 'the 14 year war that no one wants to acknowledge anymore' in Afghanistan.

That idiot obama just last week quipped like an ignorant college freshman that Putin was about to step into a quagmire. But what about obama's Afghanistan??

What the flying fark are we still doing over there?? (rhetorical question -- do not answer)

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:35 PM (Twaz5)

199 "are you kidding with that unusual object on mars?

Posted by: ace at October 06, 2015 05:24 PM (dciA+)

13 minutes of the most boring proof of life on Mrs you will ever watch. I am now sorry I watched the whole video hoping to see Martian Footprints.
What did I get?
Math
effn Math.......

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Old and unimproved. at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (dOD0J)

200 The jihadis also want to undo the lines drawn on a map after WW1 also.......

Posted by: Yo! at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (GwIKd)

201 @158...recent and in today's UK Daily Mail.

I like the part where "she did not realize it was harassment until other women said the same story about the guy." ok

The guy apparently asked her to pick out clothes for him (?) and then said she would get an Oscar if she watched him shower (again, ?). Ok. Unsure if she watched him shower as it is simply pathetic that anyone who looks at her funny gets this starring role. Sort of yearly like Groundhog Day.

Posted by: ChristyBlinky, aging supermodel Redneck Queen at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (LJ4iV)

202 >>For extra fun, permit yourself the luxury of imagining the thermonuclear shitstorm of incredibly outrageous outrage which would have burst forth from the left if BOOOOOOOOOOSH had blasted the shit out of Doctors Without Borders.

Has this gotten any MSM coverage?
I only watch the local a.m. tv news, and I don't recall this coming up.

So, has the list of doctors killed and pictures been reported, widows/widowers interviewed, all the usual stuff that happens with Western casualties of war happened yet?

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (NOIQH)

203 My new phone charger keeps trying to connect the phone with V-Cast and computer. Is there a way to make it stop?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (WAX3V)

204 China already announced that it will trade oil in yuan.

Announcing it is one thing, getting real oil traders to believe you'll run a better currency than the Fed given the PLA's track record is another.

Posted by: DaveA at October 06, 2015 05:32 PM (DL2i+)

Yeah, good luck with that.

Chinese business practices already have several companies trying to figure out how uncouple from the mainland.

One of the reasons is the way Chinese currency is handled.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (0cMkb)

205 This doesn't happen if we are still in Iraq. Just saying.

Posted by: SH

Bingo.

Or at least not to the degree that it has happened.

Posted by: Moderate Salami, weeping for our dead Republic what's dead at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (/Ho8c)

206 "On day one, you can say it was a one-time mistake," a senior U.S. official said of Russia's strike on one of the allied rebel group's headquarters. "But on day three and day four, there's no question it's intentional. They know what they're hitting."

In many ways, this is the story of Obama.

Posted by: despair (now with 50% less hope) at October 06, 2015 05:37 PM (VrdxH)

207 From a good column in the WSJ, Why Outside Powers Cant End the Destruction in Syria, the author arguement that outside powers cannot solve Syrias problems and there are not enough "moderate" syrians to make the center hold

If we had a SOFA agreement and stayed in Iraq with bases it might be different

woulda coulda shoulda

its too late

Posted by: ThunderB at October 06, 2015 05:38 PM (zOTsN)

208 198
Remember when news programs would show pictures of dead soldiers at the end of every broadcast during the Bush administration as a "tribute" (really to drag down Bush's approval rating)? I guess the dead soldiers during this administration don't deserve a similar tribute. More than 75% of our casualties in Afghanistan have occurred under Obama's leadership.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:38 PM (Ypc8j)

209 You don't hear that stupid "The bear is loose!" meme from WH PR anymore, huh?

Posted by: Uncle Jed at October 06, 2015 05:39 PM (OmBeX)

210 Putin's goals....is to partition the country and create a rump puppet state of West Syria.
Posted by: Naes

The Principality of Antioch is a better name than "West Syria"

Posted by: Jean at October 06, 2015 05:39 PM (ztOda)

211
What the flying fark are we still doing over there??
Posted by: Soothsayer

Apparently running a zone defense for the Kandahar chapter of NAMBLA......

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at October 06, 2015 05:39 PM (kdS6q)

212 >>The guy apparently asked her to pick out clothes for him (?) and then said she would get an Oscar if she watched him shower (again, ?).

Heh, sounds like that Weinstein creep, since he works hard to get his movies Oscars.

Posted by: Lizzy at October 06, 2015 05:41 PM (NOIQH)

213 I'm kind of looking at Putin the way a neighborhood looks at the mob boss who lives on their street. They don't bother us if we don't bother them, and street thugs tend to look elsewhere to do their crimes.

Besides, between Putin and TFG, I see TFG as the bigger threat to the American way of life and the dwindling liberties we're still allowed by our "Betters" who tell us that Putin is a danger to us. (Their power and bank accounts in reality)

Posted by: kbdabear at October 06, 2015 05:42 PM (GrXXa)

214
Honest to Christ, to this day, 7 years into our decline, I still occasionally get hit with the horror of the realization that barack hussein obama, friend of terrorist William Ayers, is Commander-in-Chief, let alone the goddam president.

I can't believe it. I can't. It seems like a dream. But there he is, in the White House. How did this happen??

And there's obama, making all the wrong moves, making every single thing in the USA worse, and trying to make the World worse, warning Russia about a quagmire.

We live in Bizzarro World.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:42 PM (Twaz5)

215 How can a phone charger do things on its own?

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:43 PM (WAX3V)

216 At this point, fighting over Syria is like battling to see who gets Detroit

Posted by: kbdabear at October 06, 2015 05:43 PM (GrXXa)

217
No joke.

The world needs to be re-conked on the head with a coconut to get back to normal.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:43 PM (Twaz5)

218 >>How can a phone charger do things on its own?

The charger doesn't do anything unless I tell it to.
Just ask Cortana.

Posted by: Siri at October 06, 2015 05:44 PM (NOIQH)

219 217 It worked on Gilligan's Island.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:44 PM (WAX3V)

220 If it moves in Syria, bomb it.

We have no "allies" over there only musloids who shoot at us and musloids who want to shoot at us and musloids who are waiting to shoot at us.

Stop pretending and trying to "help" these savages and bomb their asses whether they are on the ground, or on rafts trying to invade Italy, or in the air in a hot air balloon trying to sneak into Hungary. You see a musloid, you bomb that musloid. Stop when you run out of musloids.

Pretty simple.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 06, 2015 05:44 PM (ej1L0)

221
Apparently running a zone defense for the Kandahar chapter of NAMBLA......

Yeah, 14 years just to hold on to two cities, Kandahar and Kabul. This is madness.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:44 PM (Twaz5)

222 At this point, fighting over Syria is like battling to see who gets Detroit

-----

That's how proxy wars work.

Posted by: SH at October 06, 2015 05:45 PM (gmeXX)

223 >>How can a phone charger do things on its own?
Posted by: Boss Moss

It's like a gun. You have to watch those chargers made by Colt or Smith and Wesson.

Posted by: Barry at October 06, 2015 05:45 PM (c7vUv)

224 In many ways, this is the story of Obama.

We gotta get that one back in the rotation, right after phrasing.

Posted by: DaveA at October 06, 2015 05:46 PM (DL2i+)

225 read Putin at the Valdai conference

Obama wants a multi-polar world, too

they agree on the goal

all the yapping is about how to save face

Posted by: Feh at October 06, 2015 05:46 PM (d0RbD)

226 Putin didn't defeat the jihadists in his country. Most of them just left for greener pastures like Afghanistan and now Syria.

Posted by: Naes
---------------------------------------
Gosh darn it. Now you're making me start to like Putin. I wish Obama would at least do that. Instead of declaring the US to be open for grazing.

I'm not learning arabic or mexican. Maybe I should start learning Russian.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at October 06, 2015 05:47 PM (E5UB0)

227
My new phone charger keeps trying to connect the phone with V-Cast and computer. Is there a way to make it stop?

Yes. Go into Settings, go into USB Connection Type and select "charging only" or whatever you have. Maybe that'll work.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:47 PM (Twaz5)

228 That little C.U.N.T. is living a kick-ass life.

Which is what really matters.

Posted by: eleven at October 06, 2015 05:47 PM (rjtGa)

229 Vladimir is punching the halfrican in the mouth and drinking his milkshake mmmmmmmmmmm

Posted by: Daniel Plainview at October 06, 2015 05:48 PM (q3OJ4)

230 And we will have a Russian foothold in a key oil area. Just lovely. But hey, at least he still embarrasses Obama, and that's what really matters,right?

^^^^

Of course I'm wary about Russia gaining that kind of influence. Of course!

But what, at this point, is the alternative? Look, our government has chosen to side with the fricking terrorists over Assad. Assad sucks. He sucks very badly. But really, Al Qaeda and ISIS? We're really going to claim those fuckeds are moderates and give me money and guns and training and air support? WTF. No!!!

It would be different if the opposing sides were more clear-cut towards good versus bad, but Syria is a situation where one side is a brutal dictator and the other is head-chopping, Christian slaughtering fundamentalist Islamists. There is NO good side here and frankly I don't think we should have ever been involved in the first place. Maybe if Odipshit had focused solely on taking out the known terrorist organizations and stayed out of the civil war part we'd be in a different position today, but we're in the middle of a choice between shit and shit because of extremely poor decision making from the smart power set. There is no winning here.

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 05:50 PM (KkVB6)

231
obama is arming and protecting "rebels" who are also terrorists.

Putin is killing people over there wholesale.

I think the net result of Putin's action makes the world a better place.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:51 PM (Twaz5)

232 227 The most benign setting I could find was ask on plug. Thanks.

Posted by: Boss Moss at October 06, 2015 05:52 PM (WAX3V)

233 The problem is we have tied ourselves to Saudi Arabia/Turkey who both support Sunni Jihadists. So if we hope to stop Russia we must side with Sunni Jihadist who will then slaughter Christians, Secularist, etc. Our CIA run operation was a joke and the "moderate" FSA is the Muslim Brotherhood allied with AQ.

So is America really going to fight for Sunni Muslim Jihadists against Russia? After 9-11? This alliance structure only worked when we were knee deep in the cold war with a SOVIET UNION, not facing a CZARIST RUSSIA. We need to stop Russia, but my "red line" is the Baltic states, Poland and perhaps Finland. It is not Syria, or any other Muslim majority country.

We need to sit back and see how this plays out in the Middle East. See if Russia over reaches, over extends, etc. But to charge in now, demand Russia stop annexing Arab Muslim countries is stupid, just as stupid as Britain's involvement in the Crimea War. Today the world would have been a lot better off if Constantinople was in Christian and not Muslim hands.

Britain would find that out in WWI. And we need to realize that Islam is a problem, just as big a problem as Communism and Nazism was.

Posted by: William Eaton at October 06, 2015 05:52 PM (q52Ma)

234 nood

Posted by: SMFH at it all at October 06, 2015 05:52 PM (zyIlW)

235 so lurker on a scale of 1 to 5, how damaging is vlad's foothold in the ME?

I see his move as opportunistic - he doesn't want the ME, the mollahs are disgusting pedophiles

Posted by: Feh at October 06, 2015 05:52 PM (d0RbD)

236 The only rebels we should have been helping or arming at all is the Kurds. Unfortunately when Turkey bombs them, there is nary a peep of protest. And yes, I know most the Kurds are socialist fruits but they might actually form a viable, pro-Western state at someday.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:54 PM (Ypc8j)

237 Damnation! How did Dario Franchitti ever get to first base with that neurotic, lunatic woman? Ashley Judd must be a real basketcase in the sack.

Posted by: Fritz at October 06, 2015 05:54 PM (3tjn4)

238 re 61: well, didn't check for the date of the DailyMail article, saw it on weaselzippers this afternoon, presumed it was current.
My mistake. Maybe I can go to work for MSNBC.

Posted by: mallfly at October 06, 2015 05:55 PM (qSIlh)

239

nood

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at October 06, 2015 05:55 PM (Twaz5)

240 Assad's group is the only viable leadership for that country that won't immediately set about on a campaign to kill those it has religious disagreements with. The Sunni and Shia groups are out for absolute dominance. The only moderates, and the only ones with a reliable history of protecting religious minorities, are the Alawites. If you would like to thank someone for dead Christians in Syria, thank the CIA.

Posted by: a phoenician sailor at October 06, 2015 05:56 PM (lyAyN)

241 The Kurds were having the most success in sending ISIS combatants to their 72 virgins. Turkey decided to focus their military assets on killing Kurds instead of ISIS. If Obama or any of his perfumed princes in the Pentagon or State Dept objected to that, I've yet to read about it.

But Putin bombing "moderate jihadists" instead of ISIS because he's doing what he said he was there for, to cover Asshead's ass, well... because like with all elitists leftists, "it's different when WE do it"

Posted by: kbdabear at October 06, 2015 05:56 PM (GrXXa)

242 You know what the American voters will learn from this, don't you?

Absolutely nothing.

Posted by: despair (now with 50% less hope) at October 06, 2015 05:57 PM (VrdxH)

243 242
I would wager that at least 90% couldn't find Syria on a map.

Posted by: Naes at October 06, 2015 05:58 PM (Ypc8j)

244 You can't tell the players without a scorecard. So the best way to win is to burn the fucking scorecard

Posted by: Vlad Putin at October 06, 2015 05:58 PM (GrXXa)

245 235 so lurker on a scale of 1 to 5, how damaging is vlad's foothold in the ME?

I see his move as opportunistic - he doesn't want the ME, the mollahs are disgusting pedophiles
Posted by: Feh at October 06, 2015 05:52 PM (d0RbD)

Not quite sure if that's addressed to me, but I will say I have no idea. A lot depends on how everything eventually shakes out in the region. I doubt they will have any real control of anything, as I highly doubt the region is controllable in any way to begin with. The whole ME is such a stone-age clusterfark.

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at October 06, 2015 05:59 PM (KkVB6)

246 That's stupid. Who cares? Fossil fuels are the past. Algae and wind power and solar power are our future.

Posted by: Low Information President at October 06, 2015 05:07 PM (UlJ3l)

And his venture capitalist friends are looking for the next Solyndra to get him to give loan guarantees.

Posted by: stuiec at October 06, 2015 06:01 PM (eetvJ)

247 Putin wants three things:

1) The warm water port at Tartus on the Syrian coast.

2) Syria and Iran as continued customers for Russian arms and other technologies.

3) Enough chaos in world oil markets to keep Russian oil earning cash for him.

No other considerations enter into it for him. He isn't as much motivated to humiliate Obama as he is shrewd enough to take full advantage when Obama humiliates himself.

Posted by: stuiec at October 06, 2015 06:04 PM (eetvJ)

248 Putin's Love Song

You've got to bomb Obama, then calm Obama,
he's weaker than my mom, Obama.
Retroactively
losing the Cold War!

I'm going to kill his allies, bomb his allies,
until the world laughs at all his lies.
It's so easy to
defeat the US of A.

As long as it's just him and me,
he will cave in every way.
Two old commies hand-in-hand,
Oh what a glorious day!

I'm a superpower, the only power,
America can only cower.
Obama wants to lose
Committing treason, for me.

Posted by: zombie at October 06, 2015 06:06 PM (jBuUi)

249 "So yes. This is a war for Oil."

It's funny, but I don't see ANY protesters against Russia and "Putin's War".

Posted by: despair (now with 50% less hope) at October 06, 2015 06:11 PM (VrdxH)

250 Also remember Russia's long term relations with Iran are questionable at best. They have fought numerous wars against each other over the years. Russia is using Iran and Iran is using Russia. Russia wants to keep their client base in Syria, and weaken the Saudis, plus jack up the oil prices. That works in Iran's interests as well for now. But Putin's heroes are Czar's like Peter the Great and Alexander.

Once involved the hankering for further glory in the "near east" will be irresistible. Right now in the near term Iran and Russia have similar goals, but those goals will start to diverge as time goes on as Russia becomes more involved. What will Iran think when Russia starts promoting Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the Middle East, or Russian nationalist start talking about the Eastern Roman Empire?

Never forget Hitler and Stalin were allies once too, the USA let the Russian Navy hang out in New York and San Francisco in 1863. Things change...America needs to protect things we care about. Like Eastern Europe from Russian aggression, our own hemisphere from Russian/Chinese involvement, and certain Asian zones of influence from Russia and China.

We have wasted a lot of time, money and lives in the Middle East at the expense of other more important areas of national importance.

Posted by: William Eaton at October 06, 2015 06:13 PM (q52Ma)

251 Did someone say rump puppets?

Posted by: Lindsay Graham at October 06, 2015 06:19 PM (hk5Mp)

252 Posted by: torquewrench at October 06, 2015 05:06 PM (noWW6)

When Russia faced this kind of defeat around 1990-91, they were able to throw off their rotten regime.

Posted by: despair (now with 50% less hope) at October 06, 2015 06:27 PM (VrdxH)

253 119 Are they bombing the hospitals in Syria?

Have to. US took out all the aspirin factories and baby milk factories.

Posted by: despair (now with 50% less hope) at October 06, 2015 06:32 PM (VrdxH)

254 And I really think that the bombing of the hospital in Afghanistan in a strike called by the Afghans was intended to destroy our credibility even further. It was intentional, and either designed by the Taliban there or even Russia.

Mission accomplished again.

Posted by: pj at October 06, 2015 09:45 PM (cHuNI)

255 This Christian just got his CCW permit two weeks ago and I carry every day wherever legally permitted. Unfortunately, my employer maintains a "Gun Free Zone" A.K.A. Disarmed Victim Zone. But, their house their rules.

Posted by: Scont at October 06, 2015 10:49 PM (zIY7N)

256 "Okay, let's say he acted to correct that weakness: What keeps him now from driving the price of oil up to whatever high price is required to pour money back into the Kremlin's coffers?
"

Wait just a doggone minute ...

I admit that I don't know much about economics , but I don't think Putin can do this. The Sunni countries of the Middle East have a lot more Oil than Russia does, and they are ISIS allies. If he raises the price of the oil Russia sells, they can drop their own. The rest of the world will buy their oil and Russia will lose it's market share.

If there is something wrong with this analysis, I'm all ears. Okay, all eyes since I would read it here.

Posted by: Brian Pendell at October 07, 2015 05:15 PM (tgZpF)

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