ANOTHER OBAMA INTERNATIONAL VICTORY, NOT - AT 8:54 A.M. ET:  Oh dear, oh dear, the impossible Ruskies are not following the script.

When President Obama cancelled the missile shield President Bush had promised to Poland and the Czech Republic, it was expected that there would be a "gesture" from Russia, showing appreciation, as Russia had vehemently opposed the shield. 

And there was.  A Russian official grandly announced that it would not deploy Iskander offensive missiles near Poland, which it had threatened to do, because of the American decision. 

Not so fast, Ivan.

Now Russia's highest ranking military officer is hedging.  Who's afraid of the big bad Obama?  From the Jerusalem Post:

Russia's top general said Monday that plans to deploy missiles in an enclave next to Poland have not been shelved, contradicting a comment made by a government official last week after the United States's announcement that it was scrapping a plan to place missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.

US President Barack Obama's decision to scrap a land-based missile defense system was received positively by Russia, which is sensitive to US moves it sees as upsetting the post-Cold War balance of power, especially in countries formerly belonging to the Soviet bloc. Moscow even threatened to place Iskander short-range offensive missiles in Poland if the US would have proceeded with its plan.

On Saturday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said in an interview that "naturally we will scrap the measures that Russia planned to take" in response to the US shield, specifically mentioning the deployment of Iskanders as one of the measures Russia was planning.

The chief of Russia's general staff, Nikolai Makarov, has other ideas:

"They (the Americans) have not given up the anti-missile shield; they have replaced it with a sea-based component," Makarov told reporters on a plane from Moscow to Zurich.

COMMENT:  Obama certainly gets results, doesn't he?  What is remarkable is the offhand manner in which the United States has been treated since he took office.  It is critical for the leader of a great power to be both respected and feared.  We get the feeling that Obama doesn't make it in either category.  Look at the casual manner with which Russia regards a decision in which the United States has more than a passing interest.

Obama has not produced progress in foreign policy.  There may be cheers around the world for his style, but nations will not change their objectives simply because their teenagers wear Obama t-shirts.

The president does the UN this week.  Excited?

September 21, 2009