The Russian Masterstroke

Despite what U.S President Barack Obama has publicly said about how he “have a deeply held preference for peaceful solutions", let’s tell it as it is; anything less than an attack on Syria by the U.S would be a climb-down from their earlier stated intentions.

Yet with most of the world against a strike on Syria and, according to media reports, most of the U.S Congress as well, President Obama may have dug himself into a hole he can’t come out of. So if I am him, I would be on my knees thanking Russian President Vladimir Putin for giving me a way out of the mess that is the Syrian civil war.

Taking advantage of a mistake by U.S Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia has proposed that in return for the cancellation of strikes by the U.S, Syria will place their chemical weapons under international control. Despite all the American talk about how the threats of strikes made the Syrian agree to the Russian proposal, let’s us tell it as it is; President Putin just saved President Obama’s bacon.

I’m sure there are still a lot of wrangling for all the parties involved, but everyone wanted a face-saving way out of the mess and the Russians gave a proposal that satisfied everyone. Russia, Syria, and the U.N averted a military strike; the U.S, U.K, and France do not have to support an attack on another country without U.N approval, and President Obama have avoided a potentially painful defeat in the U.S Congress.

All these potentially embarrassing pitfalls have now been avoided by the Russian proposal. Say what you want about the Russians, this was without question a diplomatic masterstroke by them and the world should be grateful.