This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
WTF White House Statement Of The Day: Syria Airstrikes Edition
When President Obama bragged earlier that "The United States is and will remain the one indispensable nation in the world..." adding that "no other nation can do what we do," we should have guessed some more war-mongering was coming... and sure enough. As AP reports, it appears Syrian airstrikes are on their way, but there's a mind-blowing twist in US foreign policy: "In an effort to avoid unintentionally strengthening the Syrian government, the White House could seek to balance strikes against the Islamic State with attacks on Assad regime targets." In the words of the Guinness commercial, Brilliant.
The intelligence gathered by U.S. military surveillance flights over Syria could support a broad bombing campaign against the Islamic State militant group, but current and former U.S. officials differ on whether air power would significantly degrade what some have called a "terrorist army."
"Air power needs to be applied like a thunderstorm, not a drizzle," Deptula said, entailing "24-7 overwatch with force application on every move of ISIL personnel."
Further complicating the plans, any military action against Islamic State militants in Syria would also have the effect of putting the U.S. on the same side as Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose ouster the Obama administration has sought for years.
So first Iran and now Syria are best buddies with America? Well we can't have that...
The U.S. is not cooperating or sharing intelligence with the Assad government, Pentagon and State Department spokesmen said. But the U.S. flights are occurring in eastern Syria, away from most of Syria's air defenses. And experts expressed doubt that Syria would attempt to shoot down American aircraft that are paving the way for a possible bombing campaign against Assad's enemies.
...
In an effort to avoid unintentionally strengthening the Syrian government, the White House could seek to balance strikes against the Islamic State with attacks on Assad regime targets. However, that option is largely unappealing to the president given that it could open the U.S. to the kind of long-term commitment to Syria's stability that Obama has sought to avoid.
* * *
So to summarize:
...the limited airstrikes in Iraq (which the Iraqi government did not ask for) now appear to be expanding into '24/7 carpet-bombing' of ISIS targets in Syria (which the US are not asking permission or forgiveness for) and in the interests of "fairness doctrine" America will bomb al-Assad's military installations to maintain some 'balance' between the moderate terrorists, extreme terrorists (and national armies), and scary-as-shit terrorists...
Is there something we missed?
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday tried to tamp down the notion that action against the Islamic State group could bolster Assad, saying, "We're not interested in trying to help the Assad regime." However, he acknowledged that "there are a lot of cross pressures here."
"Cross-pressures" indeed. And all humanitarian.
- 33528 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -


When will Urban Renewal come to 1600 Penn Ave?
Inquiring minds want to know...
This inquiring mind says..FUCK OBAMA and the wookie he rode in on...Im sick of this POS!
It seems we are slowly descending into insanity land.
As a staunch liberal, I strongly believe president Obama deserves another Nobel Peace prize for this.
"As a staunch liberal,..."
gets me every time +1
He also sucks at golf.
And he can suck a mean cock!
Destruction and disruption of oil producing nations continues.
Not that there is any fear about USD and oil.
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
I'm really glad that we''ve decided to bomb Syria. I just hope we smarten up and put boots on the ground. The Middle East desperately needs stern parenting. The United States military is just what the doctor ordered.
Won't somebody ask questions when the ME countries go to school with black eyes? The US gov is the drunken, raping step-dad of parents.
There's a scene in the old Woody Allen comedy Bananas where the US fights on both sides of a war so that whichever side wins it will be "our" side.
The Obama administration has outdone Woody Allen
Really - we're going to bomb both sides? Wow. We've forgotten the first rule of holes.
Reminder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_holes
Maybe they use the first law o ass-holes
simple solution, just kill them all and let their god(s) sort them out.
get's them all to the promised land much faster, what's not to like?
get's them all to the promised land much faster, what's not to like?
Have some thought for the poor sods in the Virgin preparation section, how do you expect them to cope, or are you thinking of making quota with non muslim virgins?
The absolute complete total best way to strengthen the Assad regime?
Bomb it.
What a bunch of mental midgets.
enjoy my fellow zh'ers this is gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47JmO28nYxU
Please tell me that cat is on ZH. That is some QUALITY mockery.
[duplicate]
Why not bomb Israel and resolve a few major problems ?
I wake up every day hoping today is the day Israel gets bombed
I was thinking bombing the US would solve many problems but they did that already......twice....Pearl Harbour......then because it worked so well the first time a New Pearl Harbour... and it only made things worser....... need a game changer
The only country close enough to threaten Israel, still standing in one piece is Saudi Arabia.
Latest Strat-zion free editorial dropped hints on the Saudis coming undone soon, in a theatre near you.
Watch this (vast, oil-producing) space...
@ Drunk In Church
Fucking Moron!
Thats just what we need is to spend money on weapons to destroy, occupy, then "rebuild" another sovereign nation without a declaration of war.
Another ChickenHawk! Just so long as you and your family are there on the front line to throw the first stone.... but we all know none of that is ever gonna happen is it?! Mouth!!
I wasted 2 minutes of my life reading your asshatter blog.
Literary tip - you can leave your bathroom tripis out of your blog entries. While nobody likely gives a fuck about the rest of it, rest assured nobody gives a fuck to read that.
You're welcoome.
LOL!!! he keeps changing his handle, so avoid wasting another 2 minutes by learning to recognise whatever Elvis The Pelvis calls himself toomorrow......
A technical solution would be nice: ZH could start automatically blocking any posts which contain a link to certain widely-pimped blogs.
/s FTFY
there is a lil something in the air... a smelly sounding melody of a "je ne sais quoi"...oh... i think i got it... the sound of the fire crackling.
hmm yea, fire everywhere. that's it. the whole place is fucking burning & they piss gazoline on it.
Excellent choice - a PC war where EVERY side gets a trophy, er, bombing strike.
And I'll bet neither Obama or the Pentagon is keeping score; just participating is the goal.
Sticks and stones may break their bones but WORDS will never hurt them. They are all sociopaths. They are probably reading zh posts and laughing their asses off.
Well, while he is sucking cock. Where is Putin?? What the hell is going on?? I feel played.
Assad: "Yo Vlad, I'll be taking delivery of those SA-300s and SA-400s right about now..."
come on, I hear Reggie is a lovable guy.
No, Eurasia is our ally. We have always been at war with Eastasia.
W W III
So far the active participants are:
United States
Iraq
Kurdistan
Islamic State... whatever the fuck it is
Afghanistan
Pakistan
Syria
Palestine
Israel
Iran
Egypt
Lybia
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
Yemen
UAE
Qatar
Kenya
Sudan
Somalia
CAR
South Sudan
Nigeria
Ukraine
Russia
NATO
I am sure I am missing some...
Are we all seriously going to wait until it is "officially" declared?
You missed Ebolaville.
Yes!
And Ebola created in Langley, don't forget. Bio-depopulation warfare.
Right. The CIA is really that smart. We should be so lucky
You forgot Darwin....
US bombing Syria/ Assad clears the way for Russia to bomb Ukraine/ Porky et al.
Yep, looks like someone is pushing hard to get this thing started before the Northern Winter.
You missed Ukraine.
And the Mexican Dreamer Army..whatever the fuck that is.
They are the ones who will fight the Free Shit Army in the last days when no nation states remain.
Says so in my bible. Don't worry though the Amish come from behind and kill them all and they live happpily ever after.
Fuckin sneaky Amish.
Beware the deaf Amish with dynamite. They are some kick ass honkies.
http://movieclips.com/prYwz-diary-of-the-dead-movie-amish-zombie-killer/
W W III
So far the active participants are:
United States
Iraq
Kurdistan
Islamic State... SLUTS
Afghanistan
Pakistan
Syria
Palestine
Israel
[...]
Are we all seriously going to wait until it is "officially" "necessary" declared?
Islamic State... SLUTS
no no no
ISLAMIC ANAL JIHADIS...... as approved by the local fatwa
in addition west virginia is not the only state to allow bro and isis , sis to marry
“The new jihad allows brothers and sisters in Syria belonging to the [al-Qaeda linked] al-Nusra Front to marry each other under the name of jihad because of the lack of girls among fighters of that organization.”
One man appears on video saying, “At the Zawia mountain there is an imam called Imam Hussein. They bring him a brother and a sister, he says ‘Allahu Akbar’ on them three times to have sex together and make them husband and wife.” ..... just like west vagina...
Saudi Cleric Issues Fatwa Against All-You-Can-Eat Buffets Saudi Cleric Issues Fatwa against 'All You can Eat Buffets'Reuters
A Saudi cleric named Saleh al-Fawzan has issued fatwa against all-you-can-eat buffets in Saudi Arabia. He made the statement on a Saudi Quranic TV station.
Fawzan said the value and quantity of the food sold should be pre-determined before hand.
"Whoever enters the buffet and eats for 10 or 50 riyals without deciding the quantity they will eat is violating Sharia (Islamic) law," Fawzan was quoted on al-Atheer channel.
Wait....WHAT?
I've been saving the term "full retard" for just the right time. Thanks Obozo!
It is always about oil, pipelines and US financial interests. From that perspective it is not as insane as it sounds.
And ultimately the only winner in the region will be Israel
Fuck the oil. When you live in the desert, it's the H2O that matters!
So... how much moar of Syria's water do Israeli farmers/settlers get? The REAL question, nobody's asking that remind one of the Magician's Trick: Distraction and Action.
what do you mean "Syria's water" are you anti-semite?
it's ALL israel's water, it was promised way back when gods talked directly to men.
Plus. One.
I dont think Vlad is going to allow the US to bomb Syria.
Send in the BUKs
Vote up!
Vote down!
"It seems we are slowly descending into insanity land."
Dude! Slowly descending?? The whole world is so far down that hole that we can't see shit...
...I can feel it falling on me, though.
And I've smelled it for some time.
slowly?
paraphrased, with credit to another who posted this elsewhere...
"It's gone so far South we have to look North to see it."
He ran around the tree so fast, he fucked himself.
Relativity is a bitch.
Tylers!
An Alert.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/us/politics/obama-pursuing-climate-accord-in-lieu-of-treaty.html
The chief conniving cunt...
"WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress.
In preparation for this agreement, to be signed at a United Nations summit meeting in 2015 in Paris, the negotiators are meeting with diplomats from other countries to broker a deal to commit some of the world’s largest economies to enact laws to reduce their carbon pollution. But under the Constitution, a president may enter into a legally binding treaty only if it is approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate."
It will give him something to talk about while hes there.
Congress won't go for it, neither will the other countries.
Like everything else O does, just a colossal waste of time...
If it actually helped the planet, I wish him luck
they are attempting to use a legal gimmik to by pass Senate approval. what a shock...
They want to control the world! Gasp!
There's more to it! This is another desperate attempt by USSA to retain world domination.
Obozo's trying to get everyone else to shoot themselves in the foot. If such a Treaty is penned down it will be obligatory for each and every country that's ratified it into their domestic law systems, while on the other hand USSA's signing of that same Treaty can (should and will) be discarded since it is unconstitutional... Et voila - you've got yourself a bunch of vassal states paying you Carbon Tax Tribute.
I just say good luck with getting China & Russia to jump on the bandwagon.
"This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land;..."
Treaties like law are required to be in pursuance of the constitution which means most treaties, especially those that supposedly supercede or remove the authority of the constition are unconstitutional.
Doesn't seem to mean much to citizens these days but thought I'd throw it out there.
R
"But under the Constitution, a president may enter into a legally binding treaty only if it is approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate."
This is the common belief, but see the "U.S. - China Claims Settlement Treaty" (May 11, 1979), which was not ratified by the United States Congress as it was an executive agreement which therefore did not require congressional approval.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210715422/Summary-Brief-of-the-Known-Actions-o...
Absolute discretion is a ruthless master. It is more destructive of freedom than any other of man's inventions.
Supr.Court Justice Wm. O Douglas
When good people remain silent (and don't march in protest), evil prospers.
Marching only works if you are carrying, then there is the whole order of magnitude consideration - ants march in protest of your boot destroying thier home but do you notice - now when a few dozen soldier ants crawl up your leg and gnaw on your nutsack you probably tend to notice...... I take my cues from nature.....
Relax. These climate conferences are only to allow for easier industrial espionage by the NSA. The Copenhagen conference was nothing but a spy vs. spy party and all participants know it. "Climate conference" is cover for making it sound all goody goody to libs, but in reality its purpose is make sure nothing is really done to impact the status quo. Research Copenhagen and NSA if you don't believe me.
1st step in fixing climate: Ground Air Force 1
slowly????
Seriously, what did people expect when they elected an Ivy-League educated, closet-Muslim Marxist as POTUS? This is a man who NEVER had a real job. He was a community organizer (whatever the fuck that is), part time state legislator and absentee, Rock-star senator.
I expect ISIS to control the whole Middle East before Obama leaves office.
Slowly?
(Guess I shoulda read replies 1st) sorry..
But seriously, slowly?.. dont know bout you, but ive been here for a while.
Has Obama had us cross into Laos yet?
"Into Laos yet"?
Nah just Cambodia, but that don't count!
We have no troops in Cambodia.. We Have No Troops in Cambodia.. We have no troops in Cambodia...
anything the Goverment denies 3 times is True..
-Havn't you looked out the window lately? We're taking the overland route through Cambodia as we speak....
All that money goes strait to silver and gold.
I'm thinking junk silver
Wasn't that the plan all along? Use IS as an excuse to bomb Syria and overthrow Assad. Everbody is so shoqued by IS that nobody will dare to oppose this.
would like to say the same CCanuck but Obama is not my president, so I am constrained by reason of politeness to just agreeing with you. What I think however is another matter.
In other words, let's just bomb everything.
That's a Nobel Peace Prize philosophy if I've ever heard one.
To the man with only a hammer...
everything looks like a thumb?
Or a golf ball.
Or Reggie's balloon knot.
Hands up -- don't shoot !
Well this way there's no collateral damage.
Misses are just hits in the other column.
Thought I'd heard everything.
Never. This is just another Shia Uprising (Sha'aban Intifada), or Convoy of Death scenario where they spend all the bombs they shoulda spent on Barry, on each other. Sad little tactical playbook.
Actually this is my problem....I've come to the realization that when it comes to the Middle East I really have no clue about anything.
It's history, culture, language...all of it is just...well, over my head. I do understand sitting around the table and talking about things. (Camp David comes to mind.) This whole "we're indispensable!" and going in "guns ablazin!" does ring a bell for some reason.
What's next? "You're either with us or you're with the terrorists"?
I feel like we've come full circle..."Year Six" here. "Once I was the learner...now I am the Master!" ("only a master of evil Darth!")
Karl Marx said "history repeats itself...first as tragedy then as farce."
This whole thing feels like a gaggle of clowns have just spilled out of the clown car.
I think this may just be the best assessment I've ever read here. I'm humbled.
Its depopulation, it just starts in the ME.
That's why its so crazy.
You can't just come out and say you are going to kill billions of people or you will get it first.
Well I think it goes farther than that, deeper, way back in time as disabledvet sublimely says. You could start at the Lionheart mass-Acre at Acre, or perhaps much earlier. All the way back to Ishmael.
Urban renewal @ 1600 Penn? Maybe, but a neutron bomb would better preserve the buildings, because we actually still want those.
Cobalt would do nicely. Was proposed in the 80s to help "get the Red out" of parts of Asia.
Might have worked, but the fallout might have been indiscriminate, so would have had far-reaching consequences that might not have been "good for the image". Those reasonably high energy gamma photons can really fade your genes . . . . . .
Assad will be entering madatory sensitivity training during the duration of the bombing as well.
I'm confused. No one was for bombing Syria, but now they are due to ISIS? Our country is rudderless. Obamaber, in b/w rounds, decided what he wants his legacy to be: amnesty, ACA and carbon tax - and shitty skool lunches.
You forgot: continued expansion of goverment-on-civilian spying programs.
the friend of my friend is my enemy
political science 101
My dad told me always to be polite. Not that I particularly listened!
He said to me" Son, don't say that a man has a hole in his head, tell him he has an open mind!"
So, Obama, you have a very open mind, Sir.
War....he finally gets a Syrian shooting range.
Barry, Putin on line 1.....
I'm helping you, but I'm kicking you in the face too, so you don't think we're friends.
Perhaps some appropriate music to go along with the bombing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdCY0CgMoq8
To preserve natural balance we need to bomb everyone equally.
Sounds like john kerry in the jungle. "Which side am I on?"
Maybe Jane Fonda will go over there to get photographed on one of our ISIS Humvees.
An other stupid story to get Syria in the party..
I have a bad feeling that it's may work this time...
Because, we don't want to kill all the guys who want to kill us that we need to kill the guys we really want to kill.
I see your lips move, but I cant hear what you are saying.
Hes after the oil...again.
RIPS
Uncomfortably un-numb?
HEY-BARRY-LEAVE THOSE FOLKS ALONE !
mother should I trust the government?
mother will they try to break my balls?
mother should I build a wall?
"Look, Mummy, there's an aeroplane in the sky..."
Man, Barry is Nobel-Peace-Prizing the shit out of brown people!
Thanks i lol'd
Rest assured I'll be using that one soon . . . and I'll probably even pass it off as my own! ;)
"In an effort to avoid unintentionally strengthening the Syrian government, the White House could seek to balance strikes against the Islamic State with attacks on Assad regime targets."
Community organizing at its very finest...lol.
"Form breakout groups and let me know how its going by tomorrow morning before I get to the first tee!"
(sigh)
Very sly trick to bomb Syria now after being rebuffed on the phony chem weapons fiasco.
These psychopaths never give up.
They don't care how obvious or ridiculous it appears. The press will say nothing and we will do nothing and the wheel will just keep going round and round. They are destabilizing all countries using military where economics fail to do the job. Order from chaos. Resistance is futile and will provide their litmus test for your continued "success".
The MIC must be jerking off over this shit.
United Technologies and Raytheon will be blind by this time next year.
"no other nation can do what we do,"
We can bomb any nation we disagree with back to the stone age with impunity. And I still get to keep my Nobel Peace Prize.
"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don’t care for human beings,” Mandela
The Great Frank Langella, spokesperson for the US Foreign Policy Elite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOsHoqhbUIU
Now... Kneel!
What he should have done is had Isreal bomb Assad and the USSA bomb the militants or the other way around. It really does not matter now.
If Israel could do that it would have done long ago......Israel is simply a wrapper on the US war machine and depends upon the US to cover it
this mother fucker president is a war criminal
They all are. Every last Royalist one of them.
Make the last four swing from lampposts and the rest of the world might just forgive us.
Correction: he's not a mother fucker. He's a father fucker, if you don't mind...
You never know. Stanley might have been game.
She was certainly a coal burner...
Seems legit.
Now that's some good cipherin'. Equal opportunity murderer.
This is beyond stupid.
Good think no one is paying any attention.
Never let a good diversion crisis go to waste. again, from last night...Lerner's hard drive crashing and being "accidently recycled" was bullshoi, as was the "rogue agents" in CinCi before that.
Judicial Watch has them caught cold...and they know it:
"Department of Justice attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service told Judicial Watch on Friday that Lois Lerner’s emails, indeed >>>all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of a government-wide catastrophe.<<< The Obama administration attorneys said that this back-up system would be too onerous to search. The DOJ attorneys also acknowledged that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is investigating this back-up system."
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/backups-for-missing-lois-lerner-irs-emails/
Dead fucking meat.
Best news this month.
"be too onerous to search."
Then what good is it?
This is such fucking bullshit. Onerous. Fucking lawyers.
Hell, I'll hunt it free of charge.
You fucks know where I am.
But they'll spend $1.7B on a fucking website that still doesn't work...
...... 1.7B ..... is a rounding error in a country whose defence department loses 2300 Billion, (D.Rumsfeld 10-11-01 but then lost any interest in finding it the following morning when everyone looking for it was obliterated and it seemed more prudent to spend another 10 trillion bombing the shit out of brown people for the next decade and a half) not to mention the tens of trillions spent destroying the US......
The back-up system has been acknowledged before. This is not news. The question is, for how long is the backed-up material kept? The claim was (is?) that the back-up tapes that would have contained the matierial from the time-period asked for were recycled and overwritten with new material by the time the request for the material was made. If that is true, that gives some meaning to the claim that it would be too expensive to try to recover the material. You would be trying to detect data previously written to the tapes underneath the data that is currently written to the tapes.
For those who may not know, the IRS has produced 67,000 of Lois Lerner's e-mails for the relevant period. The following is an interesting read, particularly the sworn statements that begin on Page 12 and Page 22 of the PDF file.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Judicial-Watch-v...
"The back-up system has been acknowledged before. This is not news."
Actually it is news.
They said they couldn't produce the requested information because her hard drive had mysteriously crashed. Its the information they are after, not the physical hard drive. Now they are saying it would be too onerous and/or expensive to search for even as more money is lost through incompetence, graft & corruption DAILY in the federal government than what it would ever cost to search for the information.
Furthermore, an ethical, impartial, non-partisan government official does not even thnk to ask if emails or IM's are kept and certainly does not request that the recipient DELETE the email after reading...which was also done.
Rogue agents in CinCi lying under oath indeed ;-)
Great job by Jud Watch doing what the DOJ and Congress is supposed to be doing. This country is totally corrupt and nothing will happen. Lerner is a chosen person. Everyone has sold out including the military and Pentagon.
People voted for this TWICE. I am no frind of red team Romney but he would be going door to door on his bike pushing LDS if he tried to pull this criminal shit.
Americans are idiots and I bet 80% of the posters here still watch TV. Everytime you click on your TV - you support your continued serfdom.
I'll mail this story in in lieu of my tax return. http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/backups-for-missing-lois-lerner-irs-emails/
Thanks, nmewn!
Libertarians rejoice!!! The world is rapidly becoming ungovernable.
I toll ya---govt's are obsolete---
Barack Obama - Set up to FAIL (US) from day one.
Written in 2008.
" Obama knew beforehand. How could he not? He was warned'or cautioned if you prefer'to conduct himself accordingly by his handlers, by the powerbrokers who wield true power behind the scenes. You could see it throughout his entire campaign. Thinly veiled threats to the Middle East, rattling sabers rather than building bridges. In other words, business as usual. Months, perhaps years, before his perplexing rise to power, mentors guided the young Barack Hussein Obama. Elderly politicians, mistakenly called 'statesmen,' corporate billionaires and CFR members groomed him on his conduct, his platform and the unwritten rules of governance, should he achieve high office.
"And Obama did not disappoint his backers, having done their bidding as soon as that highest office was achieved. Had he done otherwise, adhered to an ethical standard of behavior, his backers would have reminded the president elect how others had paid before him, in cold blood at the hand of a 'lone gunman,' for betraying them."
JFK and Obama--Profiles in Courage and CowardiceI happen to agree with you this is the story of Barack Hussein Obama.
Unfortunately for him, he is destined to go down as the most incompetent and worst President in US history - quite a feat after George W. Bush, but looking increasingly likely by the day.
As a forgiving person though, I'll give him one last chance to redeem himself.
The end of this year is his last chance.
The best thing he has done in his Presidency so far is muddle around and prevaricate and eventually allow the voice of the American people via their Congressmen to halt the march to airstrikes in Syria a year ago.
Being realistic - this was mere chance and luck that no US airstrikes happened in Syria.
Being kind to Barack, he saw and used the only strategy he could to avoid conducting airstrikes in Syria that could have led to World War 3, and if they happen soon, could well still lead to World War 3. Prevaricate and express uncertainty about the airstrikes so that the decision not to make them was ultimately made by the American people, and of course, he has to go along with what they want. A way to "neuter" his handlers, without himself actually doing anything against what they want.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps unwisely, but I'll do it for all our sakes.
Given this viewpoint I will postulate a perhaps "pie-in-the-sky" possibilty. (Personally, I don't buy it, but I'll give him a shot).
Obama has decided to go along with his handlers/ neo-cons prior to the Mid-Term Elections and not rock the boat lest he, and the Democrats, suffer a slaughter in November.
To that end, he has put off making the hard calls he needs to make until his final election is past, and he really has the freedom to do whatever he wants for his final 2 years.
If he is playing this game, good on him, and what a fortuitious surprise.
In the event he is playing this "long game", Obama needs to finally act like a leader again post the Mid-Terms.
Soon after the Mid-Terms Obama jets off to the G20 Leaders Summit at which he will come face-to-face with the leaders of the BRICS. He will have to show them something here, otherwise they will lose all faith in him. (If they haven't already, which is fairly likely).
To regain their faith, Obama must clearout his administration of the deadwood and corrupt who seem to drive some of the Obama Adminstration policies.
He must fire the following Dirty Dozen before the end of the year - well, it's a start.
1. Joe Biden (Corruption, Treason)
2. Victoria Nuland (Treason)
3. Geoffrey Pyatt (Treason)
4. John Brennan (Treason)
5. John Kerry (Incompetence, Treason)
6. Samantha Power (Incompetence, Treason)
7. Susan Rice (Incompetence, Treason)
8. Martin Dempsey (Incompetence)
9. Philip Breedlove (Incompetence)
10. Eric Holder (Incompetence)
11. Jen Psaki (Incompetence)
12. Marie Harf (Incompetence).
Getting rid of the "Dirty Dozen" would be a start, then he can move onto the likes of Chuck Hagel and Ben Rhodes.
Chances of this happening? I would put at 0.1%.
That will be 0.0% if it doesn't happen by December 31, 2014.