If Putin Is Playing Checkers, What's Obama Playing? #Syria #Russia

by Kim D.

Yesterday during the White House press conference, not-so Earnest took objection to a reporter's analogy of Putin's Syrian strategy as a game of chess. He said, "I don't think President Putin's playing chess; he's playing checkers."  Basically, in Earnest's expert opinion, Russia is making a bonehead move in supporting the Assad regime and being sucked into a civil war.

If Putin is allowed to continue with his Middle East meddling unchecked by the Obama administration, pretty soon Earnest will have to change his "checkers"symbolism to one which more closely resembles the game of Risk.  As stated before, Putin's interest in the Syrian conflict is proving to be in no way a humanitarian gesture. 

The actions of bombing rebel strongholds instead of ISIS and interfering with the American effort to get rid of Assad indicate that Russia is more interested in oil, dominance in the Middle East, and, perhaps, a pipeline to Russia. Whatever be the true motives, one thing is for certain as Russian troops hit the ground in Syria - Putin is flexing his muscles before the world, especially in Barack Obama's face.

So back to the original question . . . if Putin is playing checkers, what game is Obama playing? Americans have seen the strategy of Sorry as Obama took office and immediately went on an apology tour, giving the first indication that his administration would be significantly weak in regard to foreign policy. 

Or does it appear Kerry and Obama are stuck in a wacky game of Boggle (junior edition). To the average American watching the Syrian conflict play out, the guys in charge of forming the most effective strategy appear to be overwhelmed and bewildered. 

To some it may appear they are playing a game of Clue, although even presented with clear facts on who's causing the problem, where, and with what, there's no guarantee America would formulate a successful strategy to meet its stated end goal of destroying ISIS and eliminating the Assad Regime.

Personally, I think Obama and Kerry are caught up in a huge game of Twister. Putin seems to the the one setting the spinner in motion, telling players which foot or hand to place where.