Brilliant, Mr President (update post the 10 Sept 2013 speech)

Well it looks as though the President has played a cool game of Chicken;  and that, at the eleventh hour, Assad and Putin  have blinked.

Well played, sir;  well played.

[Original post here.]

Of course, one must acknowledge the contrary impression, at least domestically:

[Update 2 Nov 2013]   A pause for reflection:   If McCain and his cronies had had their way, we would now be at war in Syria.  How would you like that, with all else that is going on?

The President’s gamesmanship managed to avert this war, while at the same time achieving our strategic diplomatic goal of removing the chemical weapons.

When this project was first announce, the usual anti-Obama naysayers attempting to poison the atmosphere and corrupt the public’s crucial first impressions, by saying It’ll never work.  Well, it’s working.   As usual, those who proclaimed success impossible are getting a pass -- no-one is making them eat their words -- and, remarkably, the President is getting no credit at all for a campaign that finally does make him more worthy of the that Nobel Peace Prize.

[Update 25 Nov 2013]  Another feather in his cap:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-secret-diplomacy-that-worked/2013/11/25/5e2acdce-55f0-11e3-ba82-16ed03681809_story.html

Meanwhile, the usual obstructionists are trying to gum up the works:

The GOP mindlessly opposes Iran deal

Dana Milbank

Republicans can’t overlook one fatal flaw: It was negotiated by Obama.

This strand of opposition, being unprincipled, differs from the principled (though, arguably, treasonable) opposition that stems from American legislators who owe their primary allegiance, not to America, but to a certain foreign entity.  The latter would oppose the deal no matter who made it.