Obama Vows to Defeat ISIS

- September 11, 2014

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Obama Vows to Destroy ISIS
In a highly anticipated speech, Barack Obama vowed to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS. But is it too little too late for a president who seems reluctant to acknowledge the greater threat of radical Islamic terrorism?

Obama addressed the nation last night, delivering a 15 minute speech on his strategy to destroy ISIS, or “ISIL” as he calls it. The president's plan boils down to four main points:

“First, we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists.”

“Second, we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground.”

“Third, we will continue to draw on our substantial counterterrorism capabilities to prevent ISIL attacks.”

“Fourth, we will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians who’ve been displaced by this terrorist organization.”

So we have airstrikes, which include Syria by the way, training Iraqi troops, counterterrorism measures and humanitarian aid. It will not, as I predicted, include boots on the ground.

All of this is coming from a president who just two weeks ago didn't have a strategy for dealing with ISIS. We've vacillated from “no strategy,” to “manage,” to “degrade and destroy” in a matter of days. It's been complete incoherence leading up to this speech, which damages Obama's credibility. How do we know which Obama we are going to get and how can we be sure that he will follow through on his promises? After all, he's made a lot of promises while under fire, like to bring the Benghazi attackers to justice, only to passively cast them aside and move on to other things like golf or fundraising.

Another dramatic shift is Obama's stated “core principle” of his presidency. In his speech he says his core principle is, “If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.” Yet it wasn't but a few months ago when the Obama White House's foreign policy was guided by the principle: Don't do stupid stuff. Remember that?

One of the words I predicted Obama would not use in his speech was “victory.” Sure enough, I did not hear that word come across his lips. How do we define victory in this mop-up operation he is now engaging in reluctantly? This could have been prevented had he taken the threat of ISIS seriously and also handled the victory in Iraq differently, rather than taking actions based solely on political motivations. If we've learned anything it is that we shouldn't be fighting any more wars we aren't prepared to win. Based on his speech, do you think that Obama and America is prepared and willing to do what it really takes to defeat ISIS?

ISIS Not Islamic?
Barack Obama says that “ISIL is not Islamic.” This is yet another example of our president's unwillingness to identify the enemy of radical Islamic terrorists. This is dangerous for America.

Throughout Obama's presidency, we've seen a dangerous pattern emerge.

- The shooting at Fort Hood was considered “workplace violence.”

- Our war on terror was re-labeled as “overseas contingency operations” or “man-caused disasters.”

Now Obama is saying that ISIL is not Islamic and not a state. But ISIS calls itself “Islamic” and it has established a self-proclaimed caliphate - an Islamic state - in a territorial landmass the size of Belgium.

Obama seems to be missing the overall picture here and that is identifying the enemy - radical Islamic terrorists - and their motivations and goals. Whether he is deliberately or unintentionally vague, it's absurd and only stands to make us less safe.