The Combat of Champions

Here is the opening of, and then three good paragraphs from a Richard Fernandez post over at PJ Media:

Paul Richter and Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times argue that the Russian strongman is doing something very peculiar in modern history. He is engaging in single combat with the Leader of the Free World.  Putin is tearing down one man and not as one would expect, the entire system of a rival nation state in order to gain success. They write, “Putin is using his Syria gambit to disparage Obama.”

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Suddenly Obama’s partners for peace are going out of their way to treat him like a nobody in the most insulting way. Reuters reports that “Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday banned any further negotiations between Iran and the United States.” This only weeks after receiving $100 billion dollars from the One and Iran won’t even take his call. To add insult to injury, Gen. John Campbell, commander of US forces in Afghanistan told the Senate that Tehran is arming the Taliban. Foreign Policy says that Iran has supplied Hezbollah with SA-22 SAMs and Yakhont surface-to-surface precision land attack missiles. A hundred billion doesn’t buy much gratitude these days. Iran couldn’t express their contempt more clearly if they took out a full page ad in the Washington Post.

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Elliot Abrams writing in the National Review noted that the administration was actually beyond parody recalling that Obama’s idea of genocide prevention was to establish “a new government body called the Atrocity Prevention Board.” People see this and laugh. Obama might survive antipathy. He cannot survive contempt.

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But if achieving an American victory were so simple to achieve the possibility must also have crossed the wily Russian’s mind. Does he not stay up nights thinking: suppose Obama has an attack of humility? Then I’m sunk. But he probably took one look at his foe and said: “nah.”

Read more: PJ Media

Image credit: www.pjmedia.com.