I find it smashingly ironic that those frustrated with the President’s
calm tone in the face of hysteria about ISIS are now referring to the last
President as a model as to how to respond to terror attacks.
These are the same people who in 2012 wanted to send carrier
groups to the Mediterranean in response to the terror attack in Benghazi, who supported
the war in Iraq until it was clear that it was a colossal mistake, which if the
truth were told was already apparent late in 2003, and who wanted to arm the
Syrian opposition and still do. Though they refuse to acknowledge it, their end
game is always war. This was true in their response to Iranian nuke deal, and
it is as true now in the battle in Syria and Iraq with ISIS.
How ironic too, the shattering silence in response to mistakes
along the way. There is nothing complicated in their world view. Yesterday,
when the Turks shot down that fighter jet, the Russians sent in a helicopter to
try and retrieve the pilots. One of those helicopters was shot down by a TOW
missile supplied by the US to its NATO ally Turkey. The rocket caused the death
of one of the Russian helicopter pilots. The President of Turkey, Tayyip
Erdoğan, while nominally working in opposition to ISIS has nonetheless, allowed
IS fighters to travel freely across its borders. Now having shot down the jet,
the US and our European allies are obligated by treaty to defend Turkey from
any military confrontations with the Russians. If the situation would escalate
to that point the US would be engaging militarily against the Russians to
support a so-called ally who is a prime reason that the IS has grown to become
the danger it is.
Erdoğan, and many of our so-called Sunni Arab allies in the
Middle East, see ISIS as potentially the only counterweight to the growing
influence of Iran. While it is more than fair to point out that the vacuum of
US forces, especially in Iraq, as well as the agreement in Iran, are parts of
what is causing anxiety in Turkey and Sunni Arab states, this still brings us around
to what strategies would be proposed by those now crying so loudly for this President
to do something, which is short of war. And not just war, but war in this area of
the Middle East in a theatre where the Russians are now engaged and determined
to go their own way. They decry what they call Obama’s missteps, especially those
that led to this point. What they
specifically mention most often is our complete withdrawal from Iraq, something
that 80% of Americans wanted including many of those now shouting the loudest.
They forget, conveniently, that the withdrawal was negotiated, or actually not negotiated
but more agreed to, by the Bush administration. They forget, or willfully fail
to mention, that the Iraqi had had it with the US at that time. Part of that
was righteous weariness, and part was the desire by an elected though still brutally
dictatorial, Shiite dictator in Iraq , Nouri al-Maliki, that no longer wanted
the US reigning in his campaign to destroy Sunni opposition.
All of this, every last bit of it, was and IS the result of
the catastrophic decision to invade Iraq, under the pretense of fears over 9-11
and WMD. To this day Cheney still promulgates the lie that Hussein was engaged in
the planning for 9-11. Moreover, let us not forget that Iraq was a failure not
only for the lies which led Congress and a majority of Americans to support it,
but also because of the incredible arrogance of the neo-cons in prosecuting the
war, and the complete failure to administrate the country after Hussein’s ouster.
This CNN piece on a Rumsfeld press conference in April of
2004, 20 days or so after the start of the war, perfectly encapsulates the
utter stupidity of those in charge.
“Democracy is messy”. Indeed.
Polls now indicate that Americans want to see more action. In
a poll released just this week 49% say they would support a “war against ISIS”.
These numbers will only go up, especially if there is another terror attack,
but these same people will move in the opposite direction the minute American
blood is spilled.
For me I don’t know the way out, and I certainly don’t know
what the days ahead will bring. This President is under enormous pressure to do
something. Many are openly mocking the President. Except Rand Paul and the candidate every GOP candidate
would commit troops, as would Sec. Clinton. The same group is almost uniformly advocating
for a NO-FLY zone which would bring us in direct contact with the Russian Air Force.
Hysteria is in the air. I recognize that
I stand on a shrinking island of public opinion, but I stand with the President.
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