Krauthammer reaches conclusion, at least publicly - perhaps he's believed this for awhile now - but reaches same conclusion I came to weeks ago about Putin's grand scheme and fact that if there wasn't an informal 'anti-American' alliance between Russia, China and to a lesser extent Iran before Crimea the logic of such an arrangement would now have been made obvious by how Putin's actions in Ukraine have changed the game - the mutual strategic benefits of such an alliance should be clear.
What's striking about this is how absolutely unclear this has been to so many in the West who make a living by expressing their supposedly enlightened opinions on things - and what's truly frightening is how unclear this all was and possibly still is to Obama and his entire national security staff - when Putin moved into Crimea, Obama and Kerry were utterly flummoxed, it was as if it was entirely beyond their abilities to see the potential of a larger strategy at work here. Cluelessness like that amongst the leadership of the free world should cause any sane person to fret deeply about where all this might be heading.
What's striking about this is how absolutely unclear this has been to so many in the West who make a living by expressing their supposedly enlightened opinions on things - and what's truly frightening is how unclear this all was and possibly still is to Obama and his entire national security staff - when Putin moved into Crimea, Obama and Kerry were utterly flummoxed, it was as if it was entirely beyond their abilities to see the potential of a larger strategy at work here. Cluelessness like that amongst the leadership of the free world should cause any sane person to fret deeply about where all this might be heading.