The president’s saber-rattling in the Middle East makes America look weak and puts the world in danger
Victor Davis Hanson
"Most presidents are more resolute than Jimmy Carter and less firm than Reagan. George W. Bush, for example, meant what he said about the unpopular surge of troops into Iraq, which eventually quelled the violence of 2007-08. Yet in July 2003, when he taunted jihadists with, “Bring ’em on” at the start of the Iraqi insurgency, such braggadocio was not always followed by firm consequences. For example, the April 2004 abrupt pullback from the siege of Fallujah only fuelled greater violence.
"Unfortunately, after nearly five years in office, both President Obama’s foreign rivals and his domestic critics bet that his often saber-rattling rhetoric is mostly show. The more animated it sounds, the more observers assume that presidential tough talk will yield to American indecisiveness."
"Most presidents are more resolute than Jimmy Carter and less firm than Reagan. George W. Bush, for example, meant what he said about the unpopular surge of troops into Iraq, which eventually quelled the violence of 2007-08. Yet in July 2003, when he taunted jihadists with, “Bring ’em on” at the start of the Iraqi insurgency, such braggadocio was not always followed by firm consequences. For example, the April 2004 abrupt pullback from the siege of Fallujah only fuelled greater violence.
"Unfortunately, after nearly five years in office, both President Obama’s foreign rivals and his domestic critics bet that his often saber-rattling rhetoric is mostly show. The more animated it sounds, the more observers assume that presidential tough talk will yield to American indecisiveness."
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