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In reply to the discussion: Pic Of The Moment: Current Events Quiz: Understanding President Obama's Syria Speech [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)I wouldn't be surprised at all if POTUS told Putin he was entirely prepared to "Fuck Congress." Even if, in his heart of hearts, he didn't mean it. And if Pootie didn't believe it, he could check American history for the past half century.
Here's what you do not quite "get, " so long as YOU brought up "critical thinking" or "beginner's (you forgot the apostrophe) analysis." This is more like "intermediate analysis"--simplified so you can follow along--so pay close attention, now. Putin needs Tartus for a lot of reasons, either short-term or long. Obama has the ability to fuck that up for him but good with one strike from a variety of weaponry and sources (including allies), and Putin knows it. Pootie--who is the ONLY "PTB" over in his lovely land, also needs his customer, al-Assad of Syria, to keep HIS "MIC" (Y'all just love that term, too) pumping along. He's not operating on that old Soviet "flush money down the toilet, labor is cheap" paradigm--in case you hadn't noticed. He's got to make sales--even an ex-KGB strongman has to live in the 21st Century like everyone else.
Putin isn't a "nice guy." He's not 'helping out' for the good of the world. He didn't "aid" Obama. Anyone who thinks that doesn't understand how the world works. He doesn't have friends, he has INTERESTS. One of his interests is the revitalization of the Russian Navy. Another is keeping his arms sector vital and in production. A third is keeping a finger of influence on his neighbors in the Middle East.
He was pushed into a corner he tried to create for Obama, because Obama recognized HIS weakness. When you start doing target analysis, all becomes clear. See, your hero Pootie is IN Syria--he has many, many thousands of his citizens on the ground there, working with the al-Assad regime, who will be in grave danger with limited escape routes (one being Tartus) if al-Assad fails. We don't have those kinds of problems....see? It's not rocket science.
Your last paragraph, I can't help but notice, is both unseemly in a rather immature way, and absurdly angry. People who are "right" don't need to be so snarky--the force of their argument, not their insult, will carry them through. You're going on about kool aid drinkers, but you are the one sounding like your quarterback got unfairly sacked and are lashing out at all and sundry in a slightly drunken post-game "hyper fan" interview color piece.
I think the one in need of a (perhaps "Pootie-poot" detox is you.
Check yourself. You are the one who is lacking both critical thinking AND the all-important regional knowledge and country history to present a cogent and reasonable argument. And, you're getting furious and insulting, so there's that, too....