Liberals vs. their Generals and the Islamists

The American Left and ISIS  "Since the appearance of ISIS, the usual suspects on the left -- those in politics and media in particular  -- have bent over backwards to argue that it has nothing to do Obama, that his silly foreign policy, undergrad strategic considerations, and infinitely collapsible notion of American responsibilities unfolded in a vacuum and could not possibly have had any effect on anything."
...
"That said, one thing that is utterly clear is that the current Mideast situation is not only largely the fault of Barack Obama, but of the entire American left, including politicians, academics, the media, and the entertainment world.  It was leftist policies (often non-policies) that triggered today’s chaos, that channeled it, and that has rendered solutions both difficult and ephemeral.  The Mideast today is an indictment of both Obama and the entire leftist cohort.  Compared to this crew, George W., whatever his errors and shortcomings, looks gigantic.  Whatever his mistakes, whatever he did wrong, we know this: when somebody finally nukes Manhattan, it won’t be Saddam Hussein."
...
"All this had two purposes: the destruction of an American president, first, and beyond that, the crippling of the United States as a whole in the face of a dramatic and global threat. "
Read more...

Code Pink; Peace at any cost!

 

Jihadists are weaponizing our unselective, too-generous asylum policy.   ... "International “human rights” wags have attacked Australian officials for trying to crack down on unfettered immigration from terror-sponsoring states. Now, many of those ungrateful imports are crying “Islamophobia” as law-enforcement authorities try to stop the head-choppers from spilling blood on their soil." ...

 

Rift widens between Obama, U.S. military over strategy to fight Islamic State  "Divisions between Obama and his generals have become a recurring feature of his presidency. In 2009, shortly after Obama took office, Pentagon leaders pressured the new president — who had run on a platform of ending the war in Iraq — to deploy a surge of troops to Afghanistan to rescue the faltering fight against the Taliban."

 

 

Obama’s Not a Closer   ... "In Foreign Policy, David Rothkopf writes, “Obama seems steadfast in his resistance both to learning from his past errors and to managing his team so that future errors are prevented. It is hard to think of a recent president who has grown so little in office.' ”

Krauthammer; Interpreting the Islamic State’s jihadi logic

They see feckless, cowardly American leaders, but they also see these same qualities in the American people as a whole.
No matter how wise and determined our leaders may be, they will soon see their courage ground to powder by liberal, left-wing factions (many wearing ridiculous costumes), entertainment, and a clueless news media.
How can enemies look at US media and feel nothing but contempt for this nation.

Gotta go now - Miley Cyrus is about to perform a hot new routine on TV.  The Tunnel Dweller.

 

Charles Krauthammer  "What was the Islamic State thinking? We know it is sophisticated in its use of modern media. But what was the logic of propagating to the world videos of its beheadings of two Americans (and subsequently a Briton) — sure to inflame public opinion?

"There are two possible explanations. One is that these terrorists are more depraved and less savvy than we think. They so glory in blood that they could not resist making an international spectacle of their savagery — after all, they proudly broadcast their massacre of Shiite prisoners — and did not quite fathom how such a brazen, contemptuous slaughter of Americans would radically alter public opinion and risk bringing down upon them the furies of the U.S. Air Force.

...
"They count on Barack Obama quitting the Iraq/Syria campaign just as he quit Iraq and Libya in 2011 and is in the process of leaving Afghanistan now. And this goes beyond Obama. They see a post-9/11 pattern: America experiences shock and outrage and demands action. Then, seeing no quick resolution, it tires and seeks out leaders who will order the retreat. In Obama, they found the quintessential such leader."
...
"...jihadi cadres from Mali to Mosul have only swelled during Obama’s outstretched-hand presidency,"
...
"... Kerry declared that the Islamic State “must be defeated. Period. End of story.” Not the most wisely crafted of declarations: The punctuational emphasis carries unfortunate echoes of Obama’s promise about health care plans and the word “must” carries similar echoes of Obama’s assertions that Bashar al-Assad had to go."

Morale: The U.S. Navy Is Fading Away

StrategyWorld.com   "The U.S. Navy recently ran an opinion survey which confirmed that morale was low and getting worse, with a growing number of experienced sailors eager to get out of the navy. ...There was also growing disillusionment with navy leadership. Sailors saw senior officers more concerned with political correctness and “zero tolerance” than with legitimate complaints of sailors and junior officers. "

Does Hillary Clinton Have Anything to Say?

The presumed presidential candidate's speeches are long on pablum and short on content. This is the campaign we're in for.

The Atlantic

 

"Everywhere Hillary Clinton goes, a thousand cameras follow. Then she opens her mouth, and nothing happens.

 

"Clinton made a much-ballyhooed appearance in Iowa over the weekend, giving a speech widely noted for its substancelessness. She “had no explicit message of her own,” Politico noted, while The Economist pronounced it “underwhelming.” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough was so frustrated by Clinton’s lack of verve that he went on an extended rant about it, proclaiming, “I know her and like her, but she puts on that political hat and she’s a robot!” The coverage of Clinton’s speech seemed to contain more meditation about how anodyne she was than reporting of what she actually said." ...

Via Memeorandum

The New Plan for Fighting ISIS: An Analysis

INSITE on Terrorism   ... "President Obama laid out a plan to take on the Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS). While there is much to applaud in this speech, there are also serious gaps and challenges in the President’s plan that endanger the success of the effort.
...
"Despite these strengths, there are at least four problematic issues with this concept for confronting IS that could undermine its effectiveness. First, the plan makes “counter-terrorism” its underlying strategic focus. Counter-terrorism (CT) depends on attrition to take on and defeat the threat posed by a terrorist group. IS, however, is not a terrorist group; it is, rather, an insurgency that has taken territory, set up its own governance, created and used regular military forces, and is poised to seize and hold more territory. The use of attrition against insurgent groups (i.e. killing or capturing members of the group) rarely succeeds because they are capable of replacing losses and re-infiltrating any territory that they lose. "
Full article...

ISIS will have a generation of children ready to fill their ranks because they are being prepared from childhood to murder:

John Kerry And Code Pink Long-Time Partners In Promoting Terror

The Lid  "Some were surprised on Wednesday when John Kerry answered the first Code Pink outburst with an explanation of why the group should support the airstrikes against ISIS. Even more surprising was that compared to other hearings the radical group was relatively quiet during the Secretary of State's testimony compared to other testimony.  The reason for for the calm is Kerry and Code Pink go way back.

"In December of 2009 the crazies from Code Pink led an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas Gaza Freedom March, they did so with an official endorsement of their efforts by the former Democratic Party Presidential Candidate.

Sen. John Kerry Letter Supporting Code Pink’s Hamas-Aid Gaza Freedom March

December 23, 2009
 To Whom it May Concern:

I am writing to express my strong support for members of the humanitarian delegation from Massachusetts that will be traveling to Israel and the Palestinian Territories from December 27th to January 15th. The humanitarian delegation from Massachusetts is sponsoring this visit and they plan to meet with non-governmental organizations, assess the health care system and observe human rights and trade union conditions among Israelis and Palestinians.
 I respectfully request that every courtesy be given the members of the delegation during their visit. My staff has met with members of the group and is impressed with their ability, dedication and commitment to the peace process. We look forward to seeing them again upon their return and hearing about their visit.
 For any questions or concerns please feel to contact Christopher Wyman in my Boston office at 617 565-8522
 Thank you for cooperation in this very important matter.
 Sincerely,
 John F. Kerry
 United States Senator      Read more...

... "Not once does Kerry mention terrorism in his letter. Clearly the Senator didn't understand the threat of terrorism then, nor he understand it now.

"Part of the problem is that Kerry tends to look at terrorism as a crime rather than an act of war." ...

Full article at The Lid..

Code Pink seems pretty content to let families with their chidren be beheaded

 

Code Pink wants us to let these people alone to keep doing this:

 

May we assume CP would not have wanted us to use violence to end the extermination camps of Nazi Germany? 

 I see nothing in their actions that indicates otherwise. Is there any reason free people should not hold these people in contempt?

Veterans News Now

LBJ in Vietnam revisited; Obama Plans to Tightly Control Strikes on Syria

Requirements Will Be More Stringent Than Those for Attacks on Islamic State in Iraq

magnifiedview.com

 

Obama advisors, please Google this phrase: ‘Lyndon Johnson micromanagement Vietnam.’
"PS: Speaking dispassionately, you can understand – sort of – why LBJ and Richard Nixon both were very bad about trying to run the Vietnam War by themselves: it was probably the first real war we had where a President could, in something approximating real time.  And it obviously was a major temptation, given the way that both men and their staffs succumbed to it.  But also note that Presidents since have largely learned from that particular set of catastrophic mistakes and tried to keep their oversight restricted to strategic goals, not tactical ones.  Largely.  Most of the time.  Good faith efforts were made.

"Alas, nobody explained any of this to Barack Obama.  Or, more likely? Somebody did, but he didn’t bother to listen, because whoever was doing the explaining wasn’t Barack Obama."

The Vietnamization of the War on ISIS?    "This is reminiscent of the way that Lyndon Johnson controlled air strikes on North Vietnam from the Oval Office in what has come to be seen as classic example of how trying to carefully ratchet up the use of force to “send a message” to adversaries doesn’t work in the real world. At least Johnson had good reason to limit air strikes in North Vietnam–he was worried about drawing China into the war as had occurred during the Korean War....If Obama is worried that the Assad regime will take advantage of U.S. attacks on ISIS, the obvious solution would be to bomb Assad’s forces too–in short, more air attacks, not fewer...."

Business Insider

 

WSJ   ... "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, such as the troop surge in Afghanistan announced in 2009 or the last years of the Iraq war before the 2011 U.S. pullout.

"In Iraq, Mr. Obama had delegated day-to-day management to Vice President Joe Biden."

"By demanding the Pentagon gets his signoff on any strikes in Syria, Mr. Obama can better ensure the operation remain focused on his main goal for that part of the campaign: weakening the militants' hold on territory in neighboring Iraq.

"Officials also said Mr. Obama wants to make sure the military actions in Syria are more like the counterterrorism operations in Somalia or Yemen."

 

What could possibly go wrong?

thefederalistpapers

Former Navy SEAL: Over 90 Percent Of Troops Do Not Support Obama [VIDEO]

Daily Caller  “ 'Effective today, the president? A photo-op? or something in between?” Susteren asked.

“ 'Photo-op. Complete photo-op. This indicative of a global failure of his foreign policy,” Higbie explained. “He has toted that he is behind the troops before and he stands in front of these guys, gets a photo-op, everything like that, while saying he’s going to send 3,000 guys to combat Ebola, but I’m not going to send any to combat an actual enemy that’s really threatening America.”

“ 'What do you think they think? I mean, I suppose it’s kind of a mixed bag?” Susteren pressed.

“ 'I’d say most of the troops,” Higbie replied. “Probably over 90 percent, do not support the president.” ...
 

September is a bloody month in US History

Here are just the significant -to me- September traumas that come to mind. TD

Is 9/11/2001 September enough for you?   "This post is one of the Tunnel Wall's most popular, especially at this time. But here is the new post from 2014:  World reaction to 9/11 .  Mr. Obama should be aware of how the Brits stuck by us as evidenced by what they did on Sept 12th, 2001 at the Buckingham Palace changing of the guard, shown in here. TD"

Sept 15, 1944: Battle of Peleliu

 

70 Years Ago; Operation Market Garden September 17 - 27 1944

    American paratroopers' bloody crossing of the Waal River    Video

The bloodiest single day in the American Civil War: Battle of Antietam, Sept 17th, 1862
"The Battle of Antietam "...also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South), fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties.' "

ANDREW KLAVAN: Is the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS) Islamic?

Bare Naked Islam;  Inquiring minds want to know, but Rep. Thompson of Mississippi thinks not. Who are we to argue with any leader of the American government?
 

Where on earth do Democrats come up with these people?    "Democrat Congressman [Bennie] Thompson (D-MS) said at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday that the “threat posed to the homeland by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has nothing to do with religion or culture and he rejects specific ethnic or religious profiling of would-be terrorists.' ”

 

 

Obama’s Foreign Policy of Empty Words; The Junior Varsity Team in the White House

“When force threatens, talk is no good.”   "That line from John Ford’s classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance contains wisdom everyone from peasant to king knew before our modern age and its smug illusions."

 

"The White House said Monday it's going to bomb ISIS oil trucks on the roads of Iraq while they are en route to black market oil depots. Is it possible for the U.S. government to keep anything a secret? We are the only country that sends out a Save the Date before we invade you." Argus Hamilton

Victor Davis Hanson   ... "Go back 2,400 years, and you can hear it from the Athenian orator Demosthenes as he chastises his fellow citizens for responding to Macedonian aggression by “forever debating the question and never making any progress” and issuing “empty decrees.” “All words, apart from action,” Demosthenes warned, “seem vain and idle, especially from Athenian lips: for the greater our reputation for a ready tongue, the greater the distrust it inspires in all men.” We’ve had several years now of watching Obama and his foreign policy team prove this eternal truth as they have feebly and fecklessly responded to crisis after crisis in Ukraine, Syria, and a dozen other venues

“ 'Word, words, words,” as Hamlet says. But words useful for politicians who want to avoid the risk and uncertainty of action, and don’t want to face disgruntled voters at the polls. And when this perennial calculus is joined to the progressive belief that an exploitative, racist, neo-imperialist America is disqualified by its sins from being the guarantor of global order and stability, you get the world we are rapidly becoming––a Darwinian jungle of feral violence, illiberal hegemons, thug-nations, and nuclear-armed terrorist states."

So we cannot be the world's policeman; as someone asked once, then who will protect us from the world's criminals?

The Junior Varsity Team in the White House  ... "However, as the Syrian people waited for the U.S Cavalry to arrive, the population became increasingly embittered towards the United States and increasingly more radicalized. Years of feeling abandoned by the world’s only Superpower, waiting for American assistance while your family is being butchered, certainly closed the window of opportunity for a loyal American foothold in the Levant, and has only served to radicalize the population.

"In humor, relationships and in foreign policy, timing is everything.  This atmosphere could have been a contributing factor to the strong emergence of ISIS in Syria"

Who should this country fear more; ISIS or peace protestors wearing clownish costumes?

moonbattery.com

Alan Caruba on "Our Pathetic President "

Warning Signs

 

... "We have a President who has displayed a lack of leadership, a lack of judgment, ignorance of history, a cowardly approach to the threats we face, and who has demonstrated over and over again that he is a liar. His administration is likely to be judged the most corrupt in the history of the nation, indifferent to the Constitution and our laws.

"Proclaiming that he “could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform”, this is a President who has engaged in dramatically reducing the size of our military to pre-World War II levels. After a two-star general, Major General Harold J. Green, was killed in Afghanistan in April not one single member of the White House attended his funeral. Obama was playing golf.

"America must survive a man who many have come to believe is “the worst President” in our history. An essential stop toward that will be to defeat as many Democratic Party incumbents and candidates for office in the November 4 midterm elections. Americans—patriots—can do no less at this point."