US Media Revives Concerns That Putin is Again Outmaneuvering Obama in Syria

• US Media Revives Concerns That Putin is Again Outmaneuvering Obama in Syria
  by http://sputniknews.com/  
  The order from President Putin to partially withdraw from Syria came as a complete surprise to Washington and has prompted US media to speculate on the possible reasons behind this move, reviving concerns that the Russian leader is once again outmaneuvering Barack Obama.
  –
  “Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Monday that Russia will begin pulling out of Syria appeared to take the White House by surprise, and revived concerns that the Russian leader is outmaneuvering Barack Obama,” states an article in Politico magazine.
  –
  The outlet notes that the White House officials have been caught off guard by the announcement, “with press secretary Josh Earnest punting on questions during the briefing and others trying to quickly gather information.”
  –
  A speedy Russian exit from Syria, it notes, would confound President Obama’s talking point that Putin had walked into a “quagmire” in that country’s civil war that he would come to regret.
  –
  Only recently the US president reiterated that Russia was “overextended” and “bleeding” in Syria after his repeated suggestions that Russia’s campaign in Syria would run along the same lines as the Soviet’s nine-year invasion of Afghanistan. However, this appears not to be the case.
  –
  The outlet expresses concern that Putin has repeatedly confounded Obama over the past two years, from the March 2014 reunification with Crimea to the military campaign in Syria.
  –
  read more.

end