Earlier this week president Obama admitted that he had an "incomplete strategy" for dealing with ISIS in Iraq. That's Obama's way of saying that he has no strategy for that matter. Since this is the same thing that he said almost a year ago on this subject, there was a firestorm in response in which most observers castigated Obama for lack of leadership. There was even a poll in which 71% of respondents said that Obama lacks a plan for dealing with ISIS (vs. 19% who disagreed). Those are political outcomes that the White House does not like, so Team Obama did what they always do: the took an action and tried to make it into something that it is not. They announced yesterday that Obama had approved sending another 450 US troops to Iraq.
The only proper response to this latest move by Obama is to scream "Are you friggin kidding?"
Think about this. America, the world's only superpower, is sending two companies of soldiers to Iraq. These men are to be stationed well inside Anbar Province in an area surrounded by ISIS forces. The mission for the US troops is to train Sunnis who will then fight ISIS. Of course, at the moment, there are no Sunnis in Anbar who have volunteered to join that anti-ISIS brigade. Indeed, the Anbar Sunnis remember that in 2007 and 2008, the USA convinced them to fight the terrorists of al Qaeda in Iraq with the result that the coalition of American and Iraqi forces defeated the terrorists. Then Obama took all US forces out of the country and watched silently as the Baghdad government forced all Sunni officers out of the military and left the Sunnis as second class citizens. After that, ISIS attacked and the Shiite Iraqi army just melted away. The Anbar Sunnis are once again ruled by terrorists. Given this new plan by Obama, ISIS must be laughing. Not only will 450 men make little difference in Iraq, but Obama is actually sending them to a location at which they will be easy marks for attack by ISIS.
There is no way that the Pentagon recommended this plan to the president. American generals are too good for such a move. No, this is a plan designed to shut up domestic criticism of Obama. These 450 men are being offered up as a political sacrifice. Now Team Obama can say that they have a plan. If the troops get attacked in this exposed base that will not bother Obama. His political goals will have been satisfied.
The only proper response to this latest move by Obama is to scream "Are you friggin kidding?"
Think about this. America, the world's only superpower, is sending two companies of soldiers to Iraq. These men are to be stationed well inside Anbar Province in an area surrounded by ISIS forces. The mission for the US troops is to train Sunnis who will then fight ISIS. Of course, at the moment, there are no Sunnis in Anbar who have volunteered to join that anti-ISIS brigade. Indeed, the Anbar Sunnis remember that in 2007 and 2008, the USA convinced them to fight the terrorists of al Qaeda in Iraq with the result that the coalition of American and Iraqi forces defeated the terrorists. Then Obama took all US forces out of the country and watched silently as the Baghdad government forced all Sunni officers out of the military and left the Sunnis as second class citizens. After that, ISIS attacked and the Shiite Iraqi army just melted away. The Anbar Sunnis are once again ruled by terrorists. Given this new plan by Obama, ISIS must be laughing. Not only will 450 men make little difference in Iraq, but Obama is actually sending them to a location at which they will be easy marks for attack by ISIS.
There is no way that the Pentagon recommended this plan to the president. American generals are too good for such a move. No, this is a plan designed to shut up domestic criticism of Obama. These 450 men are being offered up as a political sacrifice. Now Team Obama can say that they have a plan. If the troops get attacked in this exposed base that will not bother Obama. His political goals will have been satisfied.
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