Vlad the Impaler, pokes Obama

[MrMike]

Looks like our Junior Varsity POTUS Obama will have some challenges that even his well soiled teleprompter won't be able to handle.

The Daily 202: Putin trolls Obama ahead of United Nations showdown

THE BIG IDEA:

— Vladimir Putin and President Obama are meeting formally for the first time in two years today, after the Russian president delivers his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly in a decade.

Their relationship is as frosty as ever. Russia, invoking the specter of ISIS as an excuse to prop up murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad, has deployed hundreds of soldiers, 28 fighter jets, helicopters, tanks and artillery into Syria.

The show of military power seems mainly designed to distract both the West and Putin’s own people from the mess he’s created in Ukraine, which triggered damaging economic sanctions.

Regardless of why he’s doing it, Putin’s engagement has made Syria’s multi-front and multi-player war even more chaotic and complicated to solve. We’ve come a long way since Obama drew that meaningless “red line” in August 2012.

Ahead of his sit-down with Obama,Putin mocked the failure of U.S. efforts to arm Syrian rebels on “60 Minutes.” In an interview with Charlie Rose that aired last night, the Russian pointedly mentioned embarrassing revelations about a costly three-year program to train and equip moderate rebels fighting Assad. Last week, it emerged that one rebel commander handed over a substantial part of the U.S.-provided military equipment to an Islamic State intermediary. “The initial aim was to train 5,000 to 6,000 fighters, then 12,000, but it turns out that only 60 were trained and only four or five are actually fighting,” Putin said. “All the others simply ran away with their American weapons to Islamic State!” The full transcript of the Putin interview, plus Charlie’s 10-minute package, is here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...rolls-obama-ahead-of-united-nations-showdown/

 

[Deleted member 21794]

The best we can hope for is Putin doesn't make Obama look like an idiot yet again.

 

[MrMike]

The best we can hope for is Putin doesn't make Obama look like an idiot yet again.

I think it's pretty inevitable that he will...

Obama is a JV moron

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Clearly his strategy isn't working:

 

[Saladin2]

Maybe posting more stupid cartoons will help?

 

[as seen on tv]

since so many Iraqi self defense forces simply turned their weapons over when they saw ISIS in the rearview mirror, I can't criticize hesitation to arm a bunch of unknowns in Syria.

putin and iran are propping up the only guy in history to use chemical weapons against his own civilians (well, since hitler and his gas chambers)

hopefully we're at the tail end of the putin era, and Russia can someday become a modern nation which embraces human rights and democracy

 

[Drumcollie]

Looks like our Junior Varsity POTUS Obama will have some challenges that even his well soiled teleprompter won't be able to handle.

The Daily 202: Putin trolls Obama ahead of United Nations showdown

THE BIG IDEA:

— Vladimir Putin and President Obama are meeting formally for the first time in two years today, after the Russian president delivers his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly in a decade.

Their relationship is as frosty as ever. Russia, invoking the specter of ISIS as an excuse to prop up murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad, has deployed hundreds of soldiers, 28 fighter jets, helicopters, tanks and artillery into Syria.

The show of military power seems mainly designed to distract both the West and Putin’s own people from the mess he’s created in Ukraine, which triggered damaging economic sanctions.

Regardless of why he’s doing it, Putin’s engagement has made Syria’s multi-front and multi-player war even more chaotic and complicated to solve. We’ve come a long way since Obama drew that meaningless “red line” in August 2012.

Ahead of his sit-down with Obama,Putin mocked the failure of U.S. efforts to arm Syrian rebels on “60 Minutes.” In an interview with Charlie Rose that aired last night, the Russian pointedly mentioned embarrassing revelations about a costly three-year program to train and equip moderate rebels fighting Assad. Last week, it emerged that one rebel commander handed over a substantial part of the U.S.-provided military equipment to an Islamic State intermediary. “The initial aim was to train 5,000 to 6,000 fighters, then 12,000, but it turns out that only 60 were trained and only four or five are actually fighting,” Putin said. “All the others simply ran away with their American weapons to Islamic State!” The full transcript of the Putin interview, plus Charlie’s 10-minute package, is here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...rolls-obama-ahead-of-united-nations-showdown/

Of course ...Pootin' is the Russian Trump...he will say...but I bet he get's more of a percentage support from his people than Obama.

 

[connieb]

The best we can hope for is Putin doesn't make Obama look like an idiot yet again.

I love how Assad is a "murderous dictator" yet we remember Lincoln whose actions caused the death of thousands of civilian americans and hundreds of thousands of american soldiers, as some sort of saint.

I guess the righteousness of putting down a rebellion, is in the eye of the beholder, yes?

 

[Saladin2]

I love how Assad is a "murderous dictator" yet we remember Lincoln whose actions caused the death of thousands of civilian americans and hundreds of thousands of american soldiers, as some sort of saint.

I guess the righteousness of putting down a rebellion, is in the eye of the beholder, yes?

Say What?...Thousands of "American" soldiers?....Bullshit...They were traitors to the nation supporting slavery...Most of those civilians weren't that innocent either...They got what they deserved

 

[connieb]

Say What?...Thousands of "American" soldiers?....Bullshit...They were traitors to the nation supporting slavery...Most of those civilians weren't that innocent either...They got what they deserved

Thank you for illustrating my point. It totally fine for a leader of a country to squash a rebellion in a bloody or brutal way he see's fit. IF - we agree with the leader.

connie

 

[middleview]

I love how Assad is a "murderous dictator" yet we remember Lincoln whose actions caused the death of thousands of civilian americans and hundreds of thousands of american soldiers, as some sort of saint.

I guess the righteousness of putting down a rebellion, is in the eye of the beholder, yes?

Lincoln was elected and the rebellion was in the cause of preserving slavery.

Assad is a continuation of the family business....running Syria. His father also brutally put down resistance to his regime by leveling a town and killing thousands. It was Assad's own actions that brought on armed rebellion in the cause of democracy.....

 

[middleview]

Say What?...Thousands of "American" soldiers?....Bullshit...They were traitors to the nation supporting slavery...Most of those civilians weren't that innocent either...They got what they deserved

The Civil War was fought by the north to preserve the Union and eventually to abolish slavery. The south fought to preserve what they saw as property rights....slaves and against the intrusive north and the abolitionists. The issue of slavery would be the major difference between our civil war and the wars fought by the Serbs to prevent Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia from seceding from the Yugoslavian republic.

 

[Arkady]

Looks like our Junior Varsity POTUS Obama will have some challenges that even his well soiled teleprompter won't be able to handle.

The Daily 202: Putin trolls Obama ahead of United Nations showdown

THE BIG IDEA:

— Vladimir Putin and President Obama are meeting formally for the first time in two years today, after the Russian president delivers his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly in a decade.

Their relationship is as frosty as ever. Russia, invoking the specter of ISIS as an excuse to prop up murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad, has deployed hundreds of soldiers, 28 fighter jets, helicopters, tanks and artillery into Syria.

The show of military power seems mainly designed to distract both the West and Putin’s own people from the mess he’s created in Ukraine, which triggered damaging economic sanctions.

Regardless of why he’s doing it, Putin’s engagement has made Syria’s multi-front and multi-player war even more chaotic and complicated to solve. We’ve come a long way since Obama drew that meaningless “red line” in August 2012.

Ahead of his sit-down with Obama,Putin mocked the failure of U.S. efforts to arm Syrian rebels on “60 Minutes.” In an interview with Charlie Rose that aired last night, the Russian pointedly mentioned embarrassing revelations about a costly three-year program to train and equip moderate rebels fighting Assad. Last week, it emerged that one rebel commander handed over a substantial part of the U.S.-provided military equipment to an Islamic State intermediary. “The initial aim was to train 5,000 to 6,000 fighters, then 12,000, but it turns out that only 60 were trained and only four or five are actually fighting,” Putin said. “All the others simply ran away with their American weapons to Islamic State!” The full transcript of the Putin interview, plus Charlie’s 10-minute package, is here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...rolls-obama-ahead-of-united-nations-showdown/

Putting aside the usual empty-minded Obama-bashing, the substantive point, regarding the difficulty of trying to arm moderates in the Middle East, is worth thinking about. It reminds me a lot of the Yeats line about how the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. As we've seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, and as we saw in Vietnam, trying to dictate the outcome of a conflict where the side you favor lacks a popular mandate can backfire. Often, you just inject weapons and military expertise into a situation where they'll end up helping the side you're trying to fight. That's something to keep in mind when you hear people arguing that the way to deal with the refugee crisis is to train and arm those refugees then force them to return to their countries of origin, where we blindly hope those weapons and expertise won't wind up helping the other side.

 

[connieb]

Lincoln was elected and the rebellion was in the cause of preserving slavery.

Assad is a continuation of the family business....running Syria. His father also brutally put down resistance to his regime by leveling a town and killing thousands. It was Assad's own actions that brought on armed rebellion in the cause of democracy.....

Yes, yes yes.. we get it. Killing your own citizens who are uprising against you - is either a moral necesity - or makes you "murderous" depending on where your citizens fall on the political correctness scale.

connie

 

[Arkady]

putin and iran are propping up the only guy in history to use chemical weapons against his own civilians (well, since hitler and his gas chambers)

Hussein gassed the Kurds. And, as you may recall, that's back when he was being supported by the Reagan administration.

 

[middleview]

Yes, yes yes.. we get it. Killing your own citizens who are uprising against you - is either a moral necesity - or makes you "murderous" depending on where your citizens fall on the political correctness scale.

connie

When you add in the issue of slavery there would appear to be another dimension to it.

 

[Jen]

Looks like our Junior Varsity POTUS Obama will have some challenges that even his well soiled teleprompter won't be able to handle.

The Daily 202: Putin trolls Obama ahead of United Nations showdown

THE BIG IDEA:

— Vladimir Putin and President Obama are meeting formally for the first time in two years today, after the Russian president delivers his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly in a decade.

Their relationship is as frosty as ever. Russia, invoking the specter of ISIS as an excuse to prop up murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad, has deployed hundreds of soldiers, 28 fighter jets, helicopters, tanks and artillery into Syria.

The show of military power seems mainly designed to distract both the West and Putin’s own people from the mess he’s created in Ukraine, which triggered damaging economic sanctions.

Regardless of why he’s doing it, Putin’s engagement has made Syria’s multi-front and multi-player war even more chaotic and complicated to solve. We’ve come a long way since Obama drew that meaningless “red line” in August 2012.

Ahead of his sit-down with Obama,Putin mocked the failure of U.S. efforts to arm Syrian rebels on “60 Minutes.” In an interview with Charlie Rose that aired last night, the Russian pointedly mentioned embarrassing revelations about a costly three-year program to train and equip moderate rebels fighting Assad. Last week, it emerged that one rebel commander handed over a substantial part of the U.S.-provided military equipment to an Islamic State intermediary. “The initial aim was to train 5,000 to 6,000 fighters, then 12,000, but it turns out that only 60 were trained and only four or five are actually fighting,” Putin said. “All the others simply ran away with their American weapons to Islamic State!” The full transcript of the Putin interview, plus Charlie’s 10-minute package, is here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...rolls-obama-ahead-of-united-nations-showdown/

As usual, Obama brings checkers to a chess game and then proclaims he won the game.

 

[connieb]

When you add in the issue of slavery there would appear to be another dimension to it.

No, there is not. It is either OK, for the Gov't to sick its military on its citizens and fight rebels or it is not. That is the thing with leftists. There are no absolutes. No code of honor or ethics. Its always the "lesser of two evils", or "the greater good". All things you all use to bolster your opinion of yourselves, or justify your actions.

connie

 

[Saladin2]

The Civil War was fought by the north to preserve the Union and eventually to abolish slavery. The south fought to preserve what they saw as property rights....slaves and against the intrusive north and the abolitionists. The issue of slavery would be the major difference between our civil war and the wars fought by the Serbs to prevent Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia from seceding from the Yugoslavian republic.

Well put....Assad is a Dictator and not somebody the United States should support

 

[Saladin2]

As usual, Obama brings checkers to a chess game and then proclaims he won the game.

As usual you cheer for a foreign leader over are own President