Not to be cyncial, but WHAT IS PUTIN REALLY ASKING FOR?

NYT:

President Obama woke up Monday facing a Congressional defeat that many in both parties believed could hobble his presidency. And by the end of the day, he found himself in the odd position of relying on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, of all people, to bail him out.

The surprise Russian proposal to defuse the American confrontation with Syria made a tenuous situation even more volatile for a president struggling to convince a deeply skeptical public of the need for the United States to respond militarily in yet another Middle Eastern country, this time in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons. It could make the situation even more precarious. Or it could give Mr. Obama an escape from a predicament partly of his own making.

In effect, Mr. Obama is now caught between trying to work out a deal with Mr. Putin, with whom he has been feuding lately, or trying to win over Republicans in the House who have made it their mission to block his agenda. Even if he does not trust Mr. Putin, Mr. Obama will have to decide whether to treat the Russian proposal seriously or assume it is merely a means of obstructing an American military strike.

What makes this into a spaghetti surprise pie is that what Putin wants, to STOP the USA from helping Al Qaeda/Al Nusra is what will be best for the AMERICAN PEOPLE, and not by intent.

This might be the worst convoluted mess 100% of the making of the US president single handed, I have ever seen.

If Obama rejects this, unless something else changes he is about to suffer one of the ignominious congressional defeats in American history, and might be facing one in the Senate as well. If he accepts this he will owe Putin his escape from this and Putin WILL WANT SOMETHING, and probably demand it at the point of verification and accounting of Syrian chemical arms.

Or worse.

BMD.

No President has EVER been rejected when asking for the use of force in history.

Not once.

Worse then J Carter. Worse than Buchanan. This stuff is going to destroy his self imagined place in history.