NOW REVEALED FOR THE FIRST TIME:
V R 404: BO
President Barack Obama has ignited fresh conservative criticism by saying "we don't have a strategy yet".. Equally 404 Republicans immediately jumped on the President's comment during a news conference Thursday by saying it proved their longstanding
that his foreign policy failed to seriously respond to the terrorist threat from Sunni jihadists in the Syrian civil war. "I'm not sure the severity of the problem has really sunk in to the administration just yet," said GOP Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, who chairs the House intelligence committee. Referring to the ISIS lightning sweep across northern Iraq this summer, Rogers said "we knew it was a problem before June" and noted that "even the President said he was talking about this to Iraqi officials over a year ago." "When a terrorist organization acts like an army, they present military targets the way any other army would do," he said, arguing the United States should have been going after such ISIS targets earlier "to degrade and disrupt the momentum of this very dangerous organization."
Retired Army Gen. George "Hamlet" Joulwan, the former NATO supreme allied commander, told CNN on Friday that while he believed Obama's approach amounted to a bit of "waffling," launching airstrikes in Syria requires lots of preparation. ISIS is not a state but an organization fighting the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, whom the United States also wants out of power, Joulwan noted. That creates complications,
as does what he called Syria's "very sophisticated air defense system."
(Proving that the einsteins were thinking of bombing Syrian govt-held areas instead of fighting the ISIS).
"I think we need to have clarity here of what that mission is, what it is before you start sending an airstrikes or troops," he said. "What is the clarity here of what the end state is that we want to achieve? We didn't do that in
Iraq or Afghanistan or in Vietnam. We've got to do it if we're going to get involved again."
(Just to remind ourselves: the same eisteins told us when they went into Afghanistan, and again into Iraq, that those were "not Vietnam")
The White House made the same point, with spokesman Josh Earnest attributing any uproar over Obama's phrasing to spin rather than substance. (to sum up, JoshEarnest said "Huh?" when asked about BO's stategy)
Obama strategy
He told CNN that Obama "was asked a specific question about what approach he was going to pursue when it came to possible military action in Syria" against ISIS. "That was the specific question he was asked, and the President was explicit, that he is still waiting for plans that are being developed by the Pentagon for military options that he has for going into Syria," Earnest said, adding that "the President has been very clear for months about what our comprehensive strategy is for confronting" the ISIS threat in Iraq.
(if you haven't got it yet, the strategy for confronting ISIS in Eyerak is to wait for options to talk about going into Syria)
He listed steps that have become a mantra of sorts in responding to persistent questioning by reporters in recent weeks about a strategy for confronting ISIS in Iraq and Syria:
• A unified Iraqi government "that can unite that country to meet the threat that's facing their country right now"; (ISIS sure unifies every place under shariah and death and slavery)
• Strengthening the U.S. relationship with Iraqi and Kurdish security forces "to make sure that they have the equipment and training that they need to take the fight to" ISIS on the ground; (they are taking not only the fight but also their weapons, women and children to ISIS)
• Getting regional governments to join in taking on ISIS; (will happen any day now...
)
• Forging an international coalition to join in taking on ISIS, something Obama failed to do when he contemplated but eventually decided against attacking Syria last year over its chemical weapons; and, (
"forge" is the key word here, like the WMD satellite photos were forged)
• The use of military force, such as the airstrikes launched in Iraq against ISIS to protect American personnel and minority groups under threat.
"The President
is clear that the strategy is one that's not going to solve the problem (so r v, so full agreement there)
overnight tomorownext week next year next decade, but he's also clear about the fact that our strategy can't only be the American military," Earnest said. "If we've learned anything over the last 10 or 12 years ... it's that a strategy that only includes military force will not be an enduring solution to this problem."
Obama critics say backing moderate Syrian factions (like the moderate Pakis and moderate Iraqi govt) could have prevented the extremists from gaining traction and helped the opposition topple al-Assad, as desired. Supporters say U.S. weapons would now be in the hands of ISIS if they had been sent to Syria when the war began. Now the United States is sending weapons and other aid to some Syrian opposition groups.
Obama campaigned on ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he forged a foreign policy based on easing the global reliance on the United States to always lead the intervention charge.
according to an FBI agent's affidavit, and ensured that in case of turbulence he was protected by the FULL DOUBLE WEIGHTINESS of the FBI. The flight was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport, where he was arrested.