“Russia hits Assad’s foes, angering U.S.” — Headline, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 1 If it had the wit, the Obama administration would be not angered, but appropriately humiliated. President Barack Obama has, once again, been totally outmaneuvered by Vladimir Putin. Two days earlier at the United Nations, Obama had welcomed the return, in force, of the Russian military to the Middle East — for the first time in decades — in order to help fight the Islamic State.