In August 2012 President Obama drew a red line on Syria that he never intended to enforce and we've seen a landslide of consequences ever since.
In the past three weeks, we've seen the Russians move into town with heavy military equipment, tanks, troops and weapons.
Russia has positioned about a half dozen tanks at an airfield at the center of a military buildup in Syria, two U.S. officials said on Monday, adding that the intentions of Moscow's latest deployment of heavy military equipment were unclear. Moscow has come under increased international pressure in recent days to explain its moves in Syria, where the Kremlin has been supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a 4-1/2-year war.
The Obama administration's reaction? They aren't quite sure of Putin's intentions and officials have said this isn't a "winning strategy" for the Russians.
"At this point, it’s unclear exactly what Russia’s intentions are. And we’ve made clear to them what we would like them to do, but ultimately we’ll have to see what path they take," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said last week.
U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power on CNN over the weekend:
Russia's military deployment in Syria to back Bashar al-Assad "is not a winning strategy," America's ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.
"Doubling down on a regime that gases its people, that barrel bombs its people, that tortures people who it arrests simply for protesting and for claiming their rights -- that's just not going to work," Samantha Power told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Oh really? And what exactly is the U.S. going to do about it? The answer is nothing and Putin knows it. Of course Russia moving into the region is a winning strategy.
This reaction is similar to President Obama's reaction to ISIS when he repeatedly said the terror army "has no place in the 21st century." Except for ISIS does have a place in the 21st century and their place is getting bigger by the day.
The same goes for the Russians. They're winning and they're moving. The Obama administration saying otherwise in an effort to look like they're doing something doesn't change that fact. For Russia, moving into the Middle East and particularly Syria, isn't about backing up Assad or even defeating ISIS, it's about growing Russian influence in the region and the world.
I'll leave you with this: