“Obama’s strategy isn’t to win. It’s to make it look like he’s doing something until after the November elections.”
Remy: The ISIS Crisis
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
Behind the WSJ paywall: Through tight control over airstrikes in Syria and limits on U.S. action in Iraq, Mr. Obama is closely managing the new war in the Middle East in a way he hasn’t done with previous conflicts…
You can find the rest here.
Update: Barack Obama Transformed into Lyndon Johnson So Slowly, I Hardly Even Noticed
Global Test
Related: This week, Washington Post editors noted that “Though derided by some as a ‘unilateral’ U.S. action, the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq was supported by troops from 39 countries, nine of which deployed more than 1,000 soldiers.” The Post described Obama’s efforts, so far, as “meager” in comparison.
Via Drudge.
But Glenn Beck Is The Crazy One
Obama has come under fire for underestimating the threat of this “jayvee team” wreaking havoc across the Middle East and threatening the western way of life, and yet he continuously refers to them as ISIL.
“Isn’t that unethical?”
“She told me, ‘Ray, we are to go through these stacks and pull out anything that might put anybody in the [Near Eastern Affairs] front office or the seventh floor in a bad light,'” says Maxwell. He says “seventh floor” was State Department shorthand for then-Secretary of State Clinton and her principal advisors.
“I asked her, ‘But isn’t that unethical?’ She responded, ‘Ray, those are our orders.’ “
They Miss W
BWWAAHAAAA!!! Obama Sees 2002 Iraq War Resolution As A Legal Basis For Airstrikes.
Deeper Analysis of America Returning to Iraq
From John Batchelor’s show:
Operation Empty Chair
The Times noted that our Arab allies seem a bit tentative. No kidding – Obama and Kerry were wrong about the surge in ’07, wrong about the Iraqi troop withdrawals in ’11, wrong to walk away from post-Qadaffi Libya in ’11, wrong not to arm the moderate Syrian rebels in ’11, wrong to draw a faux red line in 2013, and now no one will get behind him? The headless chickens have come home to roost.
More – Instapundit suggests that Kerry doesn’t want to call it a war because we might lose it.
You know, I don’t envy him.
So, Obama is giving his ISIS address. I don’t envy him. His decision to remove troops from Iraq has created this problem and now he has to figure out how to deal with it.
The US made good use of the Sunni muslems in Iraq to eliminate the Shia terrorists…and now the Sunni are the terrorists. Today ISIS killed 28 “hardline Islamist” leaders of the Islamic Front.
There are no good guys.
However, I can condense Obama’s speech for the readers who don’t want to listen to it.
“I’m a neo-con, you’re a neo-con, we’re all neo-cons. Bomb, bomb, bomb them all.”
Bin Laden Is Dead And Ambassador Stevens Is Dead
13 Hours
Reminder. If you missed it yesterday, you can watch it on Fox News again today or Sunday.
I Miss W
Bin Laden is Dead And Journalist Steven Sotloff Is Dead
He and I corresponded by email and planned to meet in Libya last year, though it didn’t work out. He had to leave and I had to cancel my trip and re-route myself to Lebanon, so we never actually met.
Bin Laden is Dead And Ambassador Stevens Is Dead
Via Weekly Standard.
Operation Empty Chair
Related: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by malice.
Operation Empty Chair
White House Says We Are Not At “War With ISIS”…
Bin Laden is Dead And Ambassador Stevens Is Dead
Libya’s toothless interim government, led by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani, announced late Thursday it had tendered its resignation to the elected parliament, days after a rival Islamist administration was created.
The interim government, operating in the east of the country to avoid the Islamist militias which have a strong presence in Tripoli, said it “presented its resignation to the elected parliament”, which is based in Tobruk, 600 kilometres east of the capital, also for security reasons.
Operation Empty Chair
President Obama acknowledged Thursday he doesn’t have a plan for defeating Islamist militants in Syria and backed away from imminent military action, while he also downplayed reports of a new Russian invasion in Ukraine.
“We don’t have a strategy yet,” Mr. Obama said of his plans for defeating the Islamic State in Syria. “We need to make sure that we’ve got clear plans. As our strategy develops, we will consult with Congress.”
Scramble the spin doctors: White House Rushes To Clarify
Chicagoworld
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
LA Times, 2011 – U.S. backs Christine Lagarde, former Chicago lawyer for IMF chief
AFP, August, 2014 – IMF chief charged with ‘negligence’ over graft case