Good Cop / Bad Cop?

Although I doubt this was planned in advance, it seems to me that presidents Putin and Obama are doing a near-perfect good cop/bad cop routine, with our president playing the role of bad cop. This may or may not have anything to do with John Kerry going “off message,” but if the result is that Assad relinquishes control of his chemical weapons, allowing President Obama to back down from a bombing threat, it’s good for everybody. Including President Obama.

Someone at New Republic is saying that President Obama “got played” by Putin and Assad. I’m not seeing that, exactly. If the good cop/bad cop act causes Assad to relinquish control of his chemical weapons, which is apparently acceptable to President Obama, how is President Obama getting “played”?

Update: Ezra Klein says the White House may really be about to win on Syria.