SLL has a commentary in the works on much of what this article analyzes. From Pepe Escobar at rt.com:
It’s the ultimate geopolitical cliffhanger of the season: will US President Barack Obama finally decide to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, either this Friday or during the UN General Assembly next week in New York?
Russia’s game changer in Syria – not only weapons delivery but also the prospect of actual intervention by the Russian Air Force – has left the Beltway reeling.
Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Walled Muallem has made it clear to RT that direct Russian involvement in the fight against ISIS/ISIL/Daesh and those “moderates” (US neocon designation) of Jabhat al-Nusra, a.k.a. Al-Qaeda in Syria, is even more important than the arms delivery.
Washington, meanwhile, remains mired in a geopolitical black hole as far as Putin’s strategy is concerned. The Obama administration’s response will hinge on how Putin’s speech at the UN will be received across the world, and how the frantic diplomacy related to the Syrian theatre of war will fare.
It’s naïve to interpret the Russian military build-up as a mere show of force, an invitation to the Americans to finally sit down and discuss everything from southwest Asia to Ukraine.
It’s also naïve to interpret the move as Moscow’s desperation for some kind of dialogue, any dialogue. There are no illusions at the Kremlin. Obama and Putin exchanged a few words in Beijing late last year – and that’s it; no official visits, no detailed meetings.
What’s certain is that Putin’s latest chess move carries the potential to smash to pieces the Obama administration’s post-Maidan “strategy” of isolating Russia. Thus the predictable fear, loathing and paranoia permeating the Beltway.
Old Cold War 2.0 habits die hard – if at all. Washington may extend the proverbial “financial support” to failed state, bankrupt Ukraine, and the pressure over the EU to keep sanctions throughout 2016 will remain. US ‘Think Tankland’ keeps frantically spinning that the Obama administration is “not ready” to deal with Russia.
To continue reading: Live from New York, it’s ‘Putin the Great’
