U.S Backs Off Threat Against Syria; Planned All Along

The question becomes what will be the consequences for Obama after Putin's coup d'etat.

Not intervening through force shouldn't damage American credibility but in this case, Obama's unwise 'red line' markings and tough talk may have some blow back. In other words, they bungled the Penske File just like they did Benghazi. The mere fact Obama is funding the rebels is outrageous on its own.

Obama had once said (correctly) Syria wasn't a threat. Alas, the use of chemical weapons on its own people changed his 'calculus' propelling him to change his mind and deem them a threat. Weak indeed.

To say this is not a particularly strong foreign policy team is self-evident at this point.

The key in power politics is to not let your opponent get the upper-hand. In this case, and in the larger context of global regional politics, Obama let Putin get the upper-hand. The irony couldn't be more stark. A rabid anti-democratic, authoritarian (allegedly linked to murders) leads the peace talks while a Constitutional lecturer with a law degree and war dove with a Nobel prize initiated a threat of violence.

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Jesus these people have no shame.

"Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday, after reaching a tentative agreement with Russia to disarm Syria of chemical weapons, that his earlier statement about the impossibility of such a plan was in fact “the language of diplomacy.”

“I purposefully made the statements,” Kerry said in Geneva, Switzerland, after reaching the framework of an agreement with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “And I did indeed say it was impossible and [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] won't do it, even as I hoped it would be possible and wanted him to do it.  And the language of diplomacy sometimes requires that you put things to the test, and we did.”

So threatening is the 'language of diplomacy.' Nice. Er, subtle. 

Who's their spin doctor because they are simply brilliant.

Of course, it would help if, you know, they actually have the chemical weapons. But I'm sure Kerry will spin that too. Magic!