His feckless irresponsibility allowed the ISIS terrorists – who he once dismissed as the “junior varsity” of al-Qaeda – to sweep into Mosul with an absurdly small force that could have been repelled by the American military presence that should have been there, augmenting and directing the Iraqi troops. Obama was dead wrong about the Iraqis being “sovereign, stable, and self-reliant.” Everyone with actual knowledge of the facts on the ground warned him he was wrong, over and over again, but he didn’t listen, because he was so hungry for that “I ended George Bush’s war” sound bite.
Obama also ignored months of warnings about the impending genocide that has finally spurred him to action. He still doesn’t seem to care much about the ethnic cleansing of Iraqi Christians – I don’t believe he’s even directly addressed the matter in a speech – but the sight of 50,000 Yazidis slowly starving to death on the sun-baked slopes of a barren mountain, surrounded by a horde of bloodthirsty ISIS killers, was impossible for him to ignore. He dithered for days, but in the end, with global media starting to relay pictures of the trapped Yazidis and heart-wrenching footage of them pleading for help, Obama finally came off the golf course (fairly literally – he’s in the middle of taking yet another vacation) and authorized some humanitarian assistance, plus limited airstrikes to weaken ISIS....
The New York Times struggles mightily to keep the cocoon around its liberal readership intact:
In sending warplanes back into the skies over Iraq,President Obama on Thursday night found himself exactly where he did not want to be. Hoping to end the war in Iraq, Mr. Obama became the fourth president in a row to order military action in that graveyard of American ambition.More from the Times, which is over-estimating the shock Obama felt at the strategic threat to the Kurds, and underestimating how much he just can’t afford to be seen as the guy who shot eighteen holes while genocide was conducted on-camera:
Aides said his hand was not forced until ISIS won a series of swift and stunning victories last weekend and Wednesday night against the Kurds in the north, who have been a loyal and reliable American ally, especially compared to the Baghdad government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. ISIS threats to wipe out Yazidis and other religious minorities trapped on Mount Sinjar, they said, added to the urgency.So back into Iraq we go, while Obama’s loyal supporters spin themselves into neck braces trying to explain why none of this is his fault.
“You don’t have to have a ton of insight to know he feels reluctant,” said Douglas Ollivant, a former Iraq adviser in the White House under Mr. Obama and President George W. Bush. “He wants the Iraq problem not to exist. And that’s exactly what the American people sent him to the White House to do.” But “all these factors may kind of drag him kicking and screaming into some kind of decision.”
◼ Peace Prize in our time - Neo-neocon
◼ Obama, With Reluctance, Returns to Action in Iraq - NY Times
In sending warplanes back into the skies over Iraq, President Obama on Thursday night found himself exactly where he did not want to be. Hoping to end the war in Iraq, Mr. Obama became the fourth president in a row to order military action in that graveyard of American ambition.
The mandate he gave to the armed forces was more limited than that of his predecessors, focused mainly on dropping food and water. But he also authorized targeted airstrikes “if necessary” against Islamic radicals advancing on the Kurdish capital of Erbil and others threatening to wipe out thousands of non-Muslims stranded on a remote mountaintop.
As he explained himself to a national television audience, Mr. Obama made a point of reassuring a war-weary public that the president who pulled American forces out of Iraq at the end of 2011 had no intention of fighting another full-scale war there. Yet his presence in the State Dining Room testified to the bleak reality that the tide of events in that ancient land has defied his predictions and aspirations before.
◼ Pentagon Releases Footage Showing U.S. Military F-18 Hornet Drop ‘500-Pound Laser Guided Bombs’ on ISIS Terror Target - The Blaze
◼ ISIS Sweeps The Middle East In A Method Reminiscent of Genghis Khan - Trevor Loudon
*** Warning: This post contains graphic pictures and video. Due to the barbaric and brutal nature of the material, please be advised this content is not for those with a weak stomach.◼ Left frets over Iraq mission creep - The Hill
“I oppose open-ended military commitments, which the president’s actions in Iraq could become,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.◼ ISIS VOWS: 'We will raise flag of Allah at White House' - Daily Caller
“I am deeply concerned that these actions could lead to prolonged direct military involvement, which I would strongly oppose,” he added.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), another senior Democrat on the committee, said he supported the president’s actions, but “as one of only 23 senators who opposed the war in Iraq, I do not believe this should be an extended campaign involving US ground troops.”
Reed is running for reelection this fall.
◼ Feinstein: Group training to 'attack in our backyard' - The Hill
