Charles Krauthammer
. . . "Does the bewildered Obama administration finally understand what Russia is up to?" . . .
. . . "Shoring up a rump Alawite state secures Russia's naval and air bases in the eastern Mediterranean. Add to that Russia's launching advanced cruise missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea to strike Syrian rebels 900 miles away and you have the most impressive display of Russian military reach since the Cold War.
"For Obama, of course, these things don't matter.
. . .
"What has happened since the signing of the deal in July? Iran convicts an American journalist of espionage, contemptuously refusing to offer even the most minimal humanitarian gesture. Iran brazenly tests a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that our own U.N. ambassador said violates Security Council resolutions. And now Iran's most notorious Revolutionary Guard commander takes control of a pan-Shiite army trying to decimate our remaining allies in the Syrian civil war.
"Obama's response to all this? Nothing. He has washed his hands of the region, still the center of world oil production and trade, and still the world's most volatile region, seething with virulent jihadism ready for export. When you call something a quagmire you have told the world that you're out and staying out. Russia and Iran will have their way.
. . .
" '60 Minutes" asked Obama: Are you concerned about yielding leadership to Russia? Obama responded dismissively: Propping up a weak ally is not leadership. I'm leading the world on climate change.
"Upon hearing that, anyone in any conflict anywhere who has put his trust in the United States should start packing his bags for Germany."