There’s a constant theme out in the air lately that seems to have struck a chord on the issue of Syria.

We’re all very happy that we aren’t going to war and get to save face, but did we win or lose in this? Did Obama fail and we lost to Russia?

The very idea that international diplomacy is some sort of game where you have to win all the time is silly enough, but the idea that we’re avoiding war by having help is odd to me.

Haven’t we always said that getting peace is better than going to war? In that case, if we can get a country to help us get a crazed dictator to give up his chemical weapons we should be celebrating.

Avoiding war and getting our demands met is a great way for a us to save face, get out of the situation and ultimately get done what we wanted accomplished.

And if Russia gets the credit, what of it? It doesn’t hurt us any if we accept their help and turn this into a positive turning point.

Yes, it looks odd to have Russia be the one helping prevent international conflict by brokering peace, but they’ve wanted a chance to play a bigger role in international politics and this is a great chance to let them.

In reality, no one has really lost. Obama wins by avoiding war and getting his demands met, Russia gets to play the role of peacemaker and Assad gets to continue his civil war without fear of international strikes on him.

Of course, those fighting for freedom from the dictatorship in Syria are perhaps the only group to lose. As the international community has shown so far, so long as you kill your people in droves with traditional weapons we’ll look the other way, just don’t use things that are better than bullets and bombs.