Russians win by knockout. Kerry still unconscious.

It appears that an agreement has been reached on the Syrian chemical weapons stash.  Let's analyze.

The agreement requires Assad to identify his stocks of chemical weapons.

No one but Assad knows what and how much of this stuff he has.  This allows the fox to determine how and when the farmer gets to collect the eggs in the henhouse.

Assad will identify and give up his oldest and least reliable chemical weapons, they will be destroyed, and this will be certified by UN inspectors.  Later, when he uses the secret ones he kept, he will be able to credibly blame the victims for their use.

The agreement will be backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution that could allow for sanctions or other consequences if Syria fails to comply, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said.

How is failure to comply determined?  If Assad says he complied, and the Russians agree with him, how does the US force the UN to do anything, when the Russians have a veto on the Security Council? This stupid agreement simply give the Russians the ability to stop by veto any action should Assad's level of compliance be disputed.  Check, and mate.

At that point Obama is back to unilateral action his own government opposes, and which would now face sanction by the UN.


Senior administration officials had said Friday the Obama administration would not press for U.N. authorization to use force against Syria if it reneges on any agreement to give up its chemical weapons.
The Russians had made clear in talks here between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kerry that the negotiations could not proceed under the threat of a U.N. resolution authorizing a military strike. Russia also wanted assurances that a resolution would not refer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court for possible war-crimes prosecution.

In other words, all leverage waived at the outset.  Again it is game, set and match for the Russians and Assad.

This is nothing more than a pathetic attempt at face saving by an incompetent administration. The negotiations went so fast due to the willingness of Kerry and Obama to agree to lose, immediately.

Assad will give up some weapons, which is good as far as it goes, but keep others, with a way to blame his opposition should he decide to use his secret stash.  Meanwhile, we are neutered in the international arena, subject to the Russian veto.  The domestic option of unilateral strikes have already been given up by Obama by agreeing to this process.

Putin and the Russian win first round by a knockout!

This sums things up nicely: