If a criminal says that helping an old lady cross the street is the right thing to do, would you discard his statement because he is a criminal? No! For the same reason, Putin may be doing evil things in his country, but I still side with him: bombing Syria is a silly idea.
many people unfamiliar with Russia or similar countries forget that selective enforcement of law is a well established and widely practiced form of tyranny and abuse of power there. The same principle applies when people like Putin are selectively say/do something that may look like a right thing - it is just a tool of advancing their agenda. Like in your example with a criminal when he would point you to the lady requiring assistance, and would do whatever he wants while your attention is diverted. You'd need to discard his statement precisely because he is a criminal.
Since being short-sighted is bad and we clearly should be looking at it from all sides/perspectives, please enlighten us as to what impact Obama's short-term plan (to bomb Syria) will have in the long-term plans that he might have? While at it, please share what's Obama long-term plan for Syria what why American should have one at all.