Look As If Putin Sees The U.S As Russia's Main Adversary

[Vel]

It seems that Romney has already earned Putin's respect. That's something that Obama hasn't managed to do.
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Vladimir Putin says of Mitt Romney: At least he’s direct
By Will Englund, Tuesday, September 18, 1:19 AM

MOSCOW — Soviet leaders used to prefer Republicans to Democrats, in the belief that Republicans were tough but more sincere and, once they made a promise, were more likely to deliver on it.

There has been a whiff of that old way of thinking in recent remarks by President Vladimir Putin, even though plenty has changed in Russia’s relations with the United States. Speaking to reporters last week, Putin said he appreciates GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s bluntness in his denunciations of Russia — because that stance lets Russia know where it stands, and reinforces Putin’s opposition to a missile defense shield in Europe.

Romney’s characterization of Russia earlier this year as the United States’ No. 1 geopolitical foe caught the attention of Russian officials, and engendered scorn in the media. But Putin views the United States as Russia’s main adversary — that is, a competitor, not an enemy, as Georgy Mirsky, an expert on Russia’s Middle East policy, pointed out in a recent interview.

 

[Vel]

Putin Punks Obama
By Michael J. Fell on Jul 11, 2012 in exposing Obama, featured opinion, Opinion, World News

The most glaring example of diminishing United States power and influence around the globe is the dynamic taking place between the U.S. and Russia regarding Syria.

Russia has dispatched a flotilla of eleven warships, almost half of which have the ability to carry hundreds of marines to the eastern Mediterranean. Some of those ships are to be docked in Syria. It is the greatest display of Russian power in the region since the start of Syria’s current conflict.

This is clearly a part of Russia’s effort to become a decisive power broker in Syria, and by extension, the Middle East. Syria is Russia’s one remaining ally in the region and home to Tartus, the last remaining Soviet era military base outside of Russia.

The unusually large size of the deployment announced by Moscow can be considered a message. The message is not just to the Middle East, but also to the United States. The message is: We are strong and you are weak.

Not unexpectedly, the response from Washington was, to put it politely, muted. Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council said: “Russia maintains a naval supply and maintenance base in the Syrian port of Tartus. We currently have no reason to believe this move is anything out of the ordinary, but we refer you to the Russian government for more details.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/w...ds-warships-on-maneuvers-near-syria.html?_r=1

The nature of this response will reaffirm to Putin that the current Oval Office occupant is willing to react passively and submissively to the Kremlin. Leading from behind is seen by experienced global power brokers like Putin as weakness.
Putin Punks Obama