The agreement reached by Russia and the United States in Geneva on Saturday to bring Syria's chemical weapons under international control was good news not just for the Syrian people but also for US President Barack Obama.

Many US commentators and politicians have argued that the deal was a win for President Vladimir Putin and a loss for Obama. They cannot tolerate the fact that the deal was initiated by Russia instead of the US, which has been dominating global affairs for decades. To them, Obama was beaten by Putin in the fight for prestige.

That is why some became hysterical when The New York Times published a piece on Thursday entitled "A Plea for Caution from Russia" written by Putin, in which he called on the US to respect the United Nations system, warned of the possible disastrous consequences of US intervention and challenged American exceptionalism.