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Quick Analysis

Obama’s Strange War

The day after the President Obama announced enhanced airstrikes against ISIS, 13 years into America’s long march against Islamic extremism, Secretary of State John Kerry declared we were not at war with ISIS but “What we are doing is engaging in a very significant counter-terrorism operation, and it’s going to go on for some period of time.”

This was followed by the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond telling reporters at a news conference in Berlin: Let me be clear; Britain will not be taking part in any air strikes in Syria.”  He said London won’t be “revisiting” the issue after Parliament decided last year against participating in air strikes.  Number 10 Downing Street then had to walk that back by saying that P.M. David Cameron had not yet decided on air strikes.

Further complications occurred after that with Germany stating that they were not yet in the coalition, followed by Turkey and then Saudi Arabia announcing that their contribution would be restricted to the training of the Syrian Free Army on Saudi territory.

Friday it got worse with the CIA in a surprise release stating that ISIS had grown by as much as 300% since June and now numbered between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters in the terror army.  This would make ISIS the 76th largest army out of 106 forces in the world.  It should be remembered that when they took Fallujah in the beginning of 2014 they were estimated to be around 4000 strong.

In matters both foreign and domestic, Obama’s presidency has been one of unnecessarily diminished expectations.  Thus when he gives us a little, many tend to bequeath it a potency that is not there.  He began his fifteen minutes into war making with a pronouncement that ISIL or ISIS is not Islamic nor is it a state.  Who then are the volunteers who have swelled its ranks at 500 a week…Presbyterians?  The insistence of Obama to protect anything and everything Islamic is the source of this obsession.  The reflexive impulse to see Islam in western terms is the source of those non Muslims who always want to begin the conversation with the assertion that “Islam is a religion of Peace”.  They are the 21st century avatars of those with a “little knowledge” and thus are as dangerous as ISIS.

Then came his predictable pledge of no ground troops from the US, causing Speaker Boehner to decry “An F-16 is not a strategy” and that an air war alone will not get the job done.  There is no need for foreign spies in the U.S. when the President gives away military strategy in televised national speeches.

Obama’s claim that ISIS or the Islamic State is highly questionable.  ISIS now occupies 18 cities in Iraq and 22 cities in Syria.  31 of that total are under their full control.  The opposition to ISIS, which includes both the disparate elements of the Syrian Free Army and the Syrian Army of Bashir al-assad  is all in the eastern corridor.  Part of the east, the north central and the west are basically controlled by ISIS.
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In Iraq, Anbar and parts of Diyala, Salahuddin and Nineveh Provinces extending south to Bagdad and west to Kurdistan are controlled by ISIS.  This territory is roughly the size of Belgium or Jordan and estimated by some to be as large as 35,000 square miles.  The 8 Sunni “militias’ in the Sunni triangle at the present time are all either supporting ISIS or in a truce with them although there have been incidents of fighting between ISIS and the Jaysh Rijal al- Tariqa al- Naqshbandia (JRTN) the largest Sunni nationalist groups that also has Caliphate  type dreams.  ISIS also controls one border crossing in Syria and perhaps as many as three in Iraq.

Over two million people in both Syria and Iraq have been displaced and are living in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey or Iraqi Kurdistan.

Obama has now based the foreign policy portion of what remains of his Presidency on a proposal that seems both unstable and unserious.  It is beginning to feel in its infancy like more spin than substance and some openly wonder if this is serious or just more political necessity.

He has tried to convince us that he waited for a new regime in Bagdad and now that he has it no one can really say if it is the real deal or not.  In Iraq, it is a new Sunni Awakening that is needed along with an Iraqi army that can and will fight. In Syria it is a collection of insurgents, some with al-Qaeda ties, who Mr. Obama just weeks ago demeaned as “Doctors, Farmers and Pharmacists” whom he would be stupid to arm.  Then his core principle was “don’t do stupid stuff””.  Now it is “no safe haven” for those who try to kill us.  The truth is that nobody knows what this is or where this is going and that in the long run is the biggest danger of it all.

No American should be sent into harms way if the ultimate objective is not complete and total victory.  Anything less is immoral and illogical.  A three year campaign with the finale left to a new President is yet another example of his propensity to fit square pegs into round holes.  It is a graduate studies exercise devoid of the essence of or the unpredictability of the reality of war.  Why three years?  Three years will allow this cancer to metastasize and grow until ISIS is not just part of Islam but is Islam itself.

Article researched and written by Larry Allison

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Quick Analysis

The Speech Obama Should Have Given

In President Obama’s long-awaited address on responding to the growing threat from ISIS, he promised to increase bombing to areas outside of Iraq, and to provide arms to the Syrian Free Army. He noted that several other nations would join in the effort.

Bizarrely, as noted by House Armed Services Committee Chair Bud McKeon, the president used his strategy “in Yemen and Somalia as examples of how the tactics he is recommending can contain violent terrorists. I would remind him that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) remains the al Qaeda affiliate most capable of attacking the American homeland and exporting violent jihad. Al Shabaab in Somalia continues to carry out attacks against American and Western interests, while recruiting fighters from the United States. The President’s approach simply will not be adequate to address the threat posed by ISIL either.”

This is the speech Mr. Obama’s should have given:

“My fellow Americans, I made a terrible mistake when I prematurely pulled American forces out of Iraq just as democracy was beginning to initiate the basis of a stable nation, however imperfectly. This provided a vacuum which ISIS was able to exploit. I had planned to do the exact same thing in Afghanistan, a decision I now regret and which I now renounce.

“I realize that I should have listened to my military and intelligence advisors, and I now plan to do so far more going forward. I had planned to do the exact same thing in Afghanistan, a decision I now regret and which I now renounce. I also realize that my prior statement about al Qaeda being on the run was also incorrect, as was my statement that ISIS was a “JV” and not a serious force to be reckoned with.

“I know that my supporters want me to insure the nation that I will not use ground power against ISIS, but to give that guarantee will only serve to help ISIS’ leaders plan their defense so I will not say that. In light of what has occurred in Iraq, I now also see that my softening of sanctions on another extreme Islamic entity, Iran, was incorrect. It has not resulted in a reduction in their nuclear program. It was done with the best of intentions, but it didn’t work.
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“In retrospect, it is clear that my failure to respond forcefully to the attack on our facility in Benghazi gave an impression of American weakness that emboldened our enemies.

“All of this turmoil makes me realize how valuable our ally Israel is to us. It is on the front lines facing a vicious enemy that seeks to destroy both of us. I will work diligently to undo the damage I have done to our relationship with that small, heroic nation.

“All this has also helped me understand that my continued effort to unilaterally reduce U.S, defense spending and cut the size of both our conventional and nuclear forces doesn’t make sense in world where Russia has dramatically increased the size of its military, and demonstrates an eagerness to use its expanded strength to invade its neighbors. I know now that I should reverse my prior stance of not opening up the federal government’s vast land holders for energy exploitation. It just isn’t a viable idea when Moscow holds Europe hostage to its gas pipelines.

“Seeing how much force, not rhetoric, shapes the world, it is obvious that something must be done to respond to China’s exponentially increasing military strength which it is enthusiastically using against both regional nations as well as America’s Pacific fleet. I intend to quickly but carefully formulate plans to address this growing crisis.

“Tomorrow is the 13th anniversary of 9/11. We live in a dangerous world. I wish I could ignore the danger, but that would be irresponsible. From now on, America will not hesitate to respond to threats in a competent, forceful manner.”