Putin Is Gathering Friends As Fast As Obama Can Throw Them His Way!

ANOTHER SCORNED U.S. ALLY TURNS TO RUSSIA

Quietly reaching out to arch enemy

Published: 14 hours ago

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Russian President Vladimir Putin

Saudi Arabia has quietly reached out to arch foe Russia in an attempt to temper Iran’s regional influence and reach a compromise on Tehran’s nuclear program, Middle Eastern defense officials told WND.The Saudi move already has resulted in the opening of back-door dialogue between the two countries aimed at possibly forging a new alliance, the officials said.

The talks may showcase Saudi desperation in light of the Obama administration’s rapprochement toward Iran, perhaps the House of Saud’s biggest competitor for influence in the Middle East and Persian Gulf.

Already, the shifting U.S. regional alliances have seen Russia’s military relationship with long-time U.S. ally Egypt grow ever closer.

The Obama administration has been cool to the secular, moderate government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which ousted the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies led my Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Ever since the U.S. abandonment of Sisi’s regime, Egypt has grown increasingly closer to Russia, as evidenced by the $3.5 billion arms deal between Cairo and Moscow signed last year.

Earlier this month, Egyptian Defense Minister Sidqi Sobqi and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced in Moscow the expansion of Russian military cooperation, which will reportedly include a historic joint naval drill in the Mediterranean Sea.

Additionally, Egyptian soldiers and officers will reportedly train in Russian military academies, reported the Moscow Times.

Now the purported opening of a new dialogue between Moscow and Riyadh seems to continue the trend of former U.S. allies reaching out to the Russian axis.

There is much bad blood between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The Saudis have been backing the insurgency targeting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, known to closely cooperate with Moscow.

Moscow has long accused the Saudis of supporting Islamists operating in the Caucuses, primarily Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, as part of an alleged destabilization campaign.

The Russians have also claimed the Saudis, working in conjunction with the West, have been attempting to lower oil prices in a scheme to damage the Russian economy.

The sour relations go back to the Cold War era, when the Saudis sided with the U.S. by supporting the American-aided mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Russian invasion there.

Russia Romances Syria

The Russian bear is nosing around the garbage dump again. It is making nice to Syria at a time when the Obama Administration is trying to make them stop beating up/killing/maiming  their people.  Once again we are playing with one hand tied behind our backs and Putin is going back to his old KGB playbook and is dancing around us! Will we ever learn that you cannot play with rules when the other team ignores them!

We somehow feel that if we are nice to people, they will like us. Our entire foreign  and emergency aid budgets are based on that assumption. Has it worked? We don't think so.

So why is Putin doing nice things for Syria, because he wants influence in the Middle East. Giving supplies and equipment gives clout when the bear does it and not when we do. Why?  The reason, Russia gives it sparingly and  everything has strings. We give and expect a positive reaction.

Will it work?  Time will tell, however, there is one thing that is known, our way of doing things does not work. Maybe, it is time we look at the way we hand out the "goodies."

What do you think?

Conservative Tom

Russia Resets Relations with Syria

Michael Rubin - Commentary Magazine,  January 12th, 2012

Well, the Obama administration may still believe its reset policy has a chance with Russia. Indeed, during his swearing-in as the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul reiterated that the reset is not over. (Alas, as with Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, who stood down Syria during Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution, only to be ordered to fete Damascus by Secretary Clinton, it seems the Obama administration specializes in nominating great people and then giving them horrendous instructions).

While Washington grovels, Vladimir Putin, however, seems to have another reset in mind: with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A Russian cargo ship laden with arms has reportedly just docked in Syria in order to resupply Assad’s troops as they try to restore control after a popular uprising. The resupply effort comes after this weekend’s port call by a Russian aircraft carrier in Syria.

Putin’s embrace of Assad suggests the absurdity of trying to corral Russia into any international coalition against Iran and its nuclear program. Putin sees foreign relations as a zero-sum game with absolutely no room for morality. He is the Russian Stephen Walt, only with dictatorial power. Obama’s over-reliance on the United Nations Security Council under these circumstances is strategic malpractice of the worst kind. The only reset the State Department needs is to dispense with the assumption diplomacy will work with insincere partners.