There is an article in The Hill today called Obama's Evolution on ISIS Threat. It is a typical attempt by the mainstream media to protect Obama from his own major mistake. According to the article, Obama changed his view slowly over time from ISIS being the "junior varsity" of terror groups (said last January) to ISIS being worse than al Qaeda and more than just a terror group (announced by Secretary of Defense Hagel this last week). This "evolution" came slowly according to the article as events demonstrated that the previous view was not accurate. Are they kidding?
Last January, nearly four weeks before Obama's junior varsity comment, the ISIS forces captured both Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq along with the surrounding territories. Those are two cities with a combined population of over half a million people. Counting the surrounding areas, ISIS captured an area with nearly a million residents. In order to achieve that victory, ISIS forces had to defeat substantial units of the Iraqi army, something that ISIS did with ease. This victory meant that for the first time in a long time, the terrorists had major urban centers in Iraq under their control. It also meant that any realistic observer would understand that the Iraqi army was not going to be able to hold off ISIS without some sort of change in strategy or tactics. Obama surely received briefings from the Defense Department and the CIA that told him of the dire situation in Iraq and the crumbling of the Iraqi army. We have no proof that Obama bothered to read these reports, however. Instead of responding in any way to the catastrophic loss of Fallujah and Ramadi, Obama just treated the whole mess as no big deal. These were only junior varsity terrorists, he told America.
At that moment, there was no need for "evolution". Obama already had sufficient information to understand the terrible threat that ISIS presented to Iraq and also to the USA. Remember, once ISIS had major areas under its control, it could easily host all manner of training camps and fund all sorts of terror attacks on America and the West. Obama just completely misunderstood or chose intentionally to misunderstand the threat from ISIS.
So what was it after that statement that changed Obama's view? We know ISIS captured some additional cities. Mosul and Tikrit joined Fallujah and Ramadi under ISIS control. It was just more of the same. We know the Iraqi army failed to stop ISIS. Just as it had in Fallujah and Ramadi, the Iraqi army collapsed when faced with the forces of ISIS. Again, it was just more of the same. We know that ISIS treated those under its control brutally. That was nothing new. In Syria, ISIS had killed a whole host of people who had opposed it. Crucifixion, firing squads, beheadings and the like were the norm in the ISIS areas of Syria. After its victory in Fallujah, ISIS executed nearly three hundred Iraqi troops that it had captured. ISIS also treated the Christians in the Fallujah and Ramadi areas very badly. So once again, the ISIS cruelty was nothing new. After Mosul fell, the Kurds were not strong enough to stop ISIS, although they tried valiantly. That was different, but no one, not even the White House, tries to use the failure of the Kurds to stop ISIS to justify Obama's change of heart. Of course, this is not surprising since the Kurds had begged Obama to provide them with weapons or at least ammunition so that they could confront ISIS and Obama refused any help.
The truth is that Obama knew all he needed to know last January to see ISIS as an extremely dangerous terrorist group that threatened the USA. If we had a president who actually focused on threats to America rather than playing golf and raising campaign cash, America could have taken actions that would have greatly limited the success that ISIS has seen this year. Had Obama decided last January that American planes would strike at ISIS were it to make any new moves towards Iraqi targets, it is doubtful that the cities of Mosul and Tikrit would have fallen. That decision could also have saved the lives of thousands of Yazidi and Christian people living in the areas recently taken by ISIS. The demise of ISIS strength that could have been inflicted on the group with the use of American air power alone would also have reduced the ability of ISIS to gain support from jihadists in the USA and Europe. But Obama played golf and went to fund raisers. He did not "evolve"; he just could not be bothered to do his job. He paid no attention to the matter.
The American people need to understand this truth. No coverup by the Obama-protecting media should be allowed to succeed.
Last January, nearly four weeks before Obama's junior varsity comment, the ISIS forces captured both Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq along with the surrounding territories. Those are two cities with a combined population of over half a million people. Counting the surrounding areas, ISIS captured an area with nearly a million residents. In order to achieve that victory, ISIS forces had to defeat substantial units of the Iraqi army, something that ISIS did with ease. This victory meant that for the first time in a long time, the terrorists had major urban centers in Iraq under their control. It also meant that any realistic observer would understand that the Iraqi army was not going to be able to hold off ISIS without some sort of change in strategy or tactics. Obama surely received briefings from the Defense Department and the CIA that told him of the dire situation in Iraq and the crumbling of the Iraqi army. We have no proof that Obama bothered to read these reports, however. Instead of responding in any way to the catastrophic loss of Fallujah and Ramadi, Obama just treated the whole mess as no big deal. These were only junior varsity terrorists, he told America.
At that moment, there was no need for "evolution". Obama already had sufficient information to understand the terrible threat that ISIS presented to Iraq and also to the USA. Remember, once ISIS had major areas under its control, it could easily host all manner of training camps and fund all sorts of terror attacks on America and the West. Obama just completely misunderstood or chose intentionally to misunderstand the threat from ISIS.
So what was it after that statement that changed Obama's view? We know ISIS captured some additional cities. Mosul and Tikrit joined Fallujah and Ramadi under ISIS control. It was just more of the same. We know the Iraqi army failed to stop ISIS. Just as it had in Fallujah and Ramadi, the Iraqi army collapsed when faced with the forces of ISIS. Again, it was just more of the same. We know that ISIS treated those under its control brutally. That was nothing new. In Syria, ISIS had killed a whole host of people who had opposed it. Crucifixion, firing squads, beheadings and the like were the norm in the ISIS areas of Syria. After its victory in Fallujah, ISIS executed nearly three hundred Iraqi troops that it had captured. ISIS also treated the Christians in the Fallujah and Ramadi areas very badly. So once again, the ISIS cruelty was nothing new. After Mosul fell, the Kurds were not strong enough to stop ISIS, although they tried valiantly. That was different, but no one, not even the White House, tries to use the failure of the Kurds to stop ISIS to justify Obama's change of heart. Of course, this is not surprising since the Kurds had begged Obama to provide them with weapons or at least ammunition so that they could confront ISIS and Obama refused any help.
The truth is that Obama knew all he needed to know last January to see ISIS as an extremely dangerous terrorist group that threatened the USA. If we had a president who actually focused on threats to America rather than playing golf and raising campaign cash, America could have taken actions that would have greatly limited the success that ISIS has seen this year. Had Obama decided last January that American planes would strike at ISIS were it to make any new moves towards Iraqi targets, it is doubtful that the cities of Mosul and Tikrit would have fallen. That decision could also have saved the lives of thousands of Yazidi and Christian people living in the areas recently taken by ISIS. The demise of ISIS strength that could have been inflicted on the group with the use of American air power alone would also have reduced the ability of ISIS to gain support from jihadists in the USA and Europe. But Obama played golf and went to fund raisers. He did not "evolve"; he just could not be bothered to do his job. He paid no attention to the matter.
The American people need to understand this truth. No coverup by the Obama-protecting media should be allowed to succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment