Say what you will about Putin, but by playing on war weariness, fear of escalation and unintended consequences, and the natural inclination of liberals to seethe at the very mention of "American exceptionalism," he managed to reinforce a strong desire in the American public to stay out of Syria.
Senator McCain had the chance to return the favor and speak to the Russian people to make the case that Assad used chemical weapons and should be overthrown and punished, and that Putin was wrong to stand with such a man.
But McCain did not do this. Instead, already known in Russia as a critic of Russia, McCain wrote an op-ed designed for his constituency back here to read. Russians are already fed a diet of propaganda about American plots to weaken Mother Russia, and McCain walked right into that trap, insulting Putin and giving Russians every reason to rally around their strongman.
How did this help American as opposed to helping McCain?
Senator John McCain accused Vladimir Putin on Thursday of allying himself with tyrants and ruling through violence and repression, in a retort to a New York Times editorial by the Russian President earlier this month.
In an editorial published on the news website Pravda.ru, McCain criticized the Russian leader's policies at home and in Syria where he has protected President Bashar al-Assad.
"(Putin) is not enhancing Russia's global reputation. He is destroying it. He has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed, and untrusted by nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world," wrote the senior senator from Arizona, who is also a leading Republican voice on military affairs.
By adding attacks on other domestic policies that a lot of Russians seem to be fine with if it restores Russian stability, power and glory, this was simply a full-throated assault on Russia's government and society, rather than an effort to sway Russian opinion in our favor.
I'm not saying I could have written that op-ed, but couldn't we have played up our history of joining forces to defeat Hitler by painting Assad as just another civilian-gassing fascist that must be put down, and who isn't worthy of being backed by the Russian people who understand sacrifice to defeat such thugs? Couldn't we reach out to Russians to argue for the overthrow of Assad so that the majority of Syrians can be supported in fighting the jihadis who are flocking to Syria rather than allowing Assad to win, leading the surviving jihadis to flee to places like Russia's Caucasus where they will kill Russians? Couldn't we have argued that standing against fascism in Syria was a place that could forge US-Russian cooperation and build upon that to face common concerns like China's rising power in the Far East?
Surely we have people who could have looked at what our objective is and written a better piece than what Senator McCain penned.
