How Bad is Obama’s Russia Policy?

It shouldn’t come as an enormous surprise that an editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal is slamming President Barack Obama’s reset policy with Russia, nor is the attack entirely undeserved:

When the Obama Administration last week secured the Kremlin’s support for U.N. sanctions on Iran, the White House touted a big dividend from its “reset” in relations with Russia. Now the price for Moscow’s cooperation is becoming clearer, and the only ones who should be cheering are the Russians and Iranians. (…)

In return for all this, the Administration gets weak sanctions similar to the three sets the Bush Administration won without paying such a high tribute. If this represents what the Administration calls “smart diplomacy,” we’d hate to see what we give up when we’re dumb.

Burn! …Nevertheless, all this complaining about just how terrible things have gotten doesn’t come exactly at the right moment, right when Sergei Lavrov is openly arguing with the Iranians, and making harsh comments which “hint that Moscow is concerned that Iran’s lack of cooperation could be undermining Russia’s image as a major force in the international community.“

Still, there will always be factions in both Washington and Moscow who mutually believe they are giving away too much.