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bowlingual
Advanced Member Joined: May 25, 2005 Post Count: 286 Status: Offline |
ISIS, Russia, Shames America Guest post by Russteed  Vladimir Putin, ISIS, and the rest of the world senses clear and present weakness from America and they are taking full advantage. It seems the bigger the crisis is, the smaller the President of the United States becomes. The Observer in Chief, Barack Obama, sat back and watched Russia hostilely bomb and invade Ukraine and capture Crimea. America’s 44th President retaliated with rasping words vociferously touted into a microphone. To Mitt Romney, “A few months ago, when you were asked what’s the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia. Not Al Qaeda; you said Russia… The 1980’s are calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.” – Barack Obama 2012. When President Obama was asked about the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIS or ISIL) in a press conference, his response was telling, “The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant.” Clearly, this was a monumental misjudgment. The White House (WH) claimed that they were “surprised” when ISIS had invaded so quickly and took control of dozens of Iraqi towns and cities. Former Senior WH officials, however, stated that they have been beating the drums of warning since the summer of 2013. November 1, 2013, The Iraqi Prime Minister (PM) came to Washington with a message for President Obama. PM Maliki, whom has great distaste for our Commander in Chief and America, pleaded for help against the strengthening ISIS militants. His plea went unanswered. The Pentagon has been monitoring the progression of ISIS since 2010. They knew ISIS was crossing the desert to invade Iraq months before the takeover. The U.S. saw them coming, knew what they were capable of, and simply watched it happen. “He (Mitt Romney) said it was a mistake to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home… He implied that we should hit Syria.” – Joe Biden said this during the 2012 presidential campaign. Mitt Romney also said crazy things like, “We should be more confrontational and less cooperative with Russia.” Democrat political pundits also mocked this statement. Romney said that we should intervene in Syria before Jihadists gain strength. The left was more interested in “binders of women” and how rich Romney was – as if that is a crime. Today the Obama’s are exorbitantly rich and will acquire exponentially more after 2016. The Romney’s are worth $250 million. The Kerry’ are worth about $1.3 billion. The Clinton’s are worth well over $100 million and counting. Are they all evil? Or just the one’s with a (R) next to their name. On CBS’s “60 Minutes”, President Obama proclaimed that U.S. Intelligence “underestimated” the ISIS threat and “overestimated the Iraqi military’s ability to defend themselves.” This contradicts the fact that for over a year, the President’s morning briefings warned him of both scenarios. Moreover, the President is absent for 60% of these briefings. Retired Lieutenant General of the United States Air Force and now Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, was held culpable for the miscalculations of the situation. This same Clapper testified in January 2014 of the threat ISIS presents. A scapegoat was needed and he was thrown under the bus after his warnings went ignored. Military strategies were vehemently suggested but all were denied. City after city was toppled down while America remained onlookers. George Bush, Mitt Romney, military generals and leaders, Congressman and Congresswomen, and the media all warned that this could happen. If America’s 44th President had come out and said, “Look, I (or we) got this wrong. We need to unite as a country and take ISIS off the map.” The American citizenry would have stood up and said, “I got your back, Mr. President!” America’s Commander in Chief took credit for the surge in Iraq. He took credit for winning the war in Iraq. He also took credit for ending the war in Iraq and for getting us out. However, we did not end it correctly. The protocol is to leave a residual military force until the country is able to defend itself – clearly, Iraq was not ready. Barack Obama now blames Iraq for kicking the U.S. military out. He cannot claim that he pulled the U.S. out of Iraq and conterminously blame Iraq for ousting the American forces. The Iraqi’s and U.S. generals had suggested 15,000 to 25,000 troops would be enough to protect them. The President offered a mere 3,000 to 5,000 troops. Iraqi President Maliki knew that would not be enough to effectively help. He also knew that President Obama wanted out. PM Maliki was angered and he did not sign the deal. The President wanted out at any cost – that cost is now evident. They did not have to leave. Are we to believe that under Bush 43, the USA can invade that country, defeat their resistance, eject the sitting President, and then help rebuild it. But, if a deal isn't signed, they have to pull all Americans out immediately. ISIS is now the wealthiest band of terrorists on Earth. They have seized millions from banks and they will take full control of all the oil fields if they go unfettered. With an unlimited bankroll, thousands of terrorists are joining their cause. The Iraqi military does not have the adroit technology, weaponry, or number of trained military personnel to protect itself from any formidable foe. While “no boots on the ground” is appeasing to some Americans ears, it is what is needed. There is much else the U.S. can do. Bombings, drone strikes, intelligence from satellites, and provided weaponry would be a start. If the U.S. sits back and watches an entire country become a safe haven for terrorists, death and destruction will find its way pushing westward toward their ultimate goal – America. |
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bowlingual
Advanced Member Joined: May 25, 2005 Post Count: 286 Status: Offline |
Guest post by eternalendrea ------------------------ Over the past six years, the United States of America has faced or been witness to a number of geopolitical crises in the international community. These have been trying times demanding strong leadership from a president willing to take the lead on foreign policy and ensure that American interests (and the stability of the world) are preserved. Unfortunately, we have been troubled time and again to behold the consistent failures of Barack Obama to address these problems in the swift and decisive manner they require, and as a result, not only have the issues at large today not been resolved, but they are considerably worse and more alarming than ever they needed to be. President Obama's disastrous handling of foreign policy can be seen in a number of arenas, but it is perhaps most starkly and dangerously clear in the matter of the terrorist group ISIS which is currently plaguing the Middle East. In order to understand the degree of Obama's mishandling of this situation, we must first understand how the problem arose. ISIS is a direct descendant of the infamous group al Qaeda, which had a functioning branch in Iraq in the aftermath of the American invasion of that country. With the all but total degradation of al Qaeda that has since taken place, the still very much alive Iraqi organization chose to re-brand itself, becoming known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and declaring as its goal nothing less than the establishment of a new Muslim caliphate in the Middle East. Above all else, it must be understood that ISIS is no ragtag band of angry Arab boys making inflammatory political statements and releasing the occasional video of a hooded spokesperson. ISIS has in fact achieved an impressive level of organization, using their considerable treasury (gleaned largely from theft and sympathetic wealthy Muslims in the region) to fund an online propaganda campaign that is nothing short of modern and, one might dare use the word, “hip”. Attracting a number of talented individuals and even several Westerners with intimate knowledge of today's youth culture, they have swarmed the Internet with images and videos that invoke popular video games (“We respawn in Jannah”, reads one ISIS recruitment graphic that compares the group's fight to the beloved game Call of Duty) and current cultural fads (another picture reads “YODO – You Only Die Once; Why Not Make it Martyrdom?”) Public relations work this advanced requires a level of organization and modernity that does not happen by accident. And this is where the president's failure is evident. Soon after taking office, President Obama began preparations for a complete withdrawal of combat troops in Iraq. This was a catastrophic foreign policy blunder, as it failed to appreciate a key fact about the Middle East: Its culture, at least as it pertains to the Arabic population, is one of extremism in the name of the Islamic faith and a hunger for the stern, uncompromising life of theocratic rule under Sharia law. For decades it has been only the hand of strong but secular dictators – of which Iraq's Saddam Hussein was one – that has kept such radical elements in check and prevented them from organizing meaningfully. With Hussein's ouster, American military forces became the only dam holding back the flood, and when Obama took them away there was nothing to stop groups like ISIS from taking root. To be sure, the new military under the command of the freshly installed democratic government was not and is not up to the challenge. Consistently they have been routed in a manner that can only be described as embarrassing by what should be a gang of unfocused guerillas but is in fact a better organized, better led combat force with unshakable morale. So complete has been the Iraqi army's humiliation that many regular soldiers have been seen laying down their arms and changing out of their military uniforms at first sight of ISIS, so terrified are they to even fight. Had Obama acted with understanding of the situation in the Middle East, he would have realized that precisely what has happened could easily have been predicted, and would perhaps not have been so hasty in removing the stabilizing American presence in the region. Now, of course, ISIS has spread out of control, conquering – and the word is “conquering” - large swaths of Iraq and neighboring Syria for themselves, with cities and even military bases falling to their power. In the wake of this disaster, Obama ordered limited air strikes against select ISIS targets, but this was mostly a reluctant measure taken in order to ease pressure on fleeing Christians being pursued and persecuted by the terrorists. Only with the flagrant, obviously provocative murders of several journalists – Americans among them – has Obama finally found the nerve to expand the air campaign to a wider scale, but even American generals on the ground concede that this may be too little, too late. It simply isn't possible to shut down ISIS from above, necessitating a new ground campaign that Obama almost certainly lacks the stomach to initiate. Because of his early blunders and subsequent inaction, matters are now much worse. But as disastrous as the ISIS situation has become, another matter with the potential for even further reaching geopolitical implication has been taking place between Russia and Europe. Shrewdly taking advantage of internal strife within the unstable nation of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has maneuvered himself into quite literally annexing the mostly Russian region of Crimea within that country, and it is dubious he means to stop there. Putin is a man who has spoken favorably – and with no small measure of nostalgia – in the past about the “glories” of the former Soviet Union, and the danger that he longs for a future that sees it restored is very real. To that end, Ukraine is itself a former Soviet republic, and a very economically important one as it once provided the USSR with a vast supply of food. Putin's refusal to back down from his policies toward Ukraine and Crimea even in the face of overwhelming opposition from the entire international community, shows the strength of his determination to achieve his ends. The weakness of the United States in its response to Russia's unconscionable aggression has also undoubtedly played a major role in the maintenance of his courage. Once again, Obama has blundered the handling of this crisis. Right out of the gate, when Crimea was first taken, one of the president's earliest statements on the matter unreservedly and unequivocally took the use of military force as a means of addressing the situation off the table. This was a disastrous decision. While it is a matter of fact that Russia is not Iraq – the former heart of the Soviet Union still boasts a powerful military that will not be easily overcome by any in the world, even that of the US – and to be sure, few would expect actual armed force to be brought to bear, explicitly ruling it out was a poor diplomatic maneuver that showed weakness of part of America and emboldened Putin's campaign. Since this unfortunate announcement was made, matters have only worsened, with economic sanctions against Russia proving ineffective in reversing the annexation and leading to speculation that Putin will retaliate by reducing Russia's sale of gasoline to Europe, a move which would devastate the European economy and lead to ramifications that would be felt around the world. Once again, it has been President Obama's colossal failure to act that has led to this potential catastrophe, and like the crisis in the Middle East, there is sadly no indication that matters will be improving in the near future. Indeed, if Putin does in fact covet the rebirth of the old Soviet Union – no small claim, to be sure, but also not entirely outside the realm of possibility – there may no limit to his plans, and all former Soviet republics may face dangerous times in the near future. Meanwhile, Barack Obama might as well have buried his head in the sand as such serious emergencies occur around the world. The man who once ran for office declaring the need for decidedly nebulous “change”, now seems remarkably hesitant to affect the status quo in any positive way. Having largely caused the rise of ISIS and doing nothing to stop the spread of Russia's influence, he practically ignores the world as matters demand America's attention – and threaten America's security in the future. |
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