“The day I am inaugurated, not only the country looks at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently … If I’m reaching out to the Muslim world they understand that I’ve lived in a Muslim country and I may be Christian, but I also understand their point of view.  And so, I’m intimately concerned with what happens in these countries and the cultures and perspective these folks have … I think the world will have confidence that I am listening to them and that our future and our security is tied up with ability to work with other countries in the world that will ultimately make us safer.”  –  Barack Obama, Nov. 21, 2007

 

Fast forward through five and a half years of the Barack Obama presidency and we see the Muslim world on fire. The newest threat, the barbarous Muslim terrorist organization of ISIS, freely moved across Syria and into much of Iraq.  The president dithered for months before deciding to send  F-18’s and drones to hit a few targets, including vehicles we left behind after our abandonment of Iraq .

Most recently ISIS beheaded two Americans while chiding our commander-in-chief. After the first, James Foley, Obama was on the golf course within minutes of his condemnation statement.  And, while most of us learned of ISIS’s  latest victim, Steven Sotloff, during the morning hours Sept. 2,  we are led to believe the president didn’t learn about it until he was boarding the plane for Estonia late in the afternoon.

According to reports, the president hesitated for some 30 days before giving the go-ahead to rescue the American hostages on July 4, probably contributing to the mission’s failure.  He is said to have called off the Bin Laden raid several times.

At a press conference before heading out to another fundraiser, the president said, regarding the situation in Syria and Iraq, “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse.  We don’t have a strategy yet.”

Just a year ago, on May 21, 2013, he told an audience at the National Defense University about the need for “a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy,” but added that since he took office “our homeland is more secure … our alliances are strong, and so is our standing in the world.”  Absolutely not true!What is it about this president, who puts more time in on the golf course and raising campaign funds than developing a strategy to wipe out ISIS and other terrorist organizations?

Last month, after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey truthfully laid out the threat against us, the White House called on them to walk it back.  Hagel told journalists the ISIS threat was “beyond anything we’ve seen.”

Yesterday, spokespersons for the Pentagon and State Department flatly refused to admit we are in a war against ISIS.   And Secretary of State John Kerry is more concerned with the effect of CO2 on the climate.

The president has no problem talking about the war on poverty, even though it has been a failure, and the war on women he claims the Republicans are waging. When it comes to fighting terrorists, however, he talks about “justice,” “containment,” “managing ISIS;” all idle threats.  Remember the line in the sand he drew in Syria over the use of chemical weapons?

While the president struggles to preserve the legacy of his Nobel Peace Prize and his untenable anti-war reputation, a recent poll revealed that 65 per cent of those polled believe we live in a world more dangerous than a few years ago, and 54 per cent feel he isn’t “tough enough.”  Democrats, too, are troubled by Obama’s dithering.  Even Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) , quite familiar with the terror threat as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has said that Obama is “too cautious.”

We have a president who apparently doesn’t understand the urgency in destroying the ISIS threat.  On Wednesday in Europe the president spoke boldly about building “a coalition to degrade and destroy,” but then added that with the international community, we can make them a “manageable problem.” What!?  He seems oblivious to the ISIS threat.

Instead of telling ISIS “we will not be intimidated,” as he talks about “our reach” and “justice,” he needs to face up to the reality that the security of America is at stake.  He must lay out a winning strategy for the complete destruction of the ISIS threat to the American public, followed by multiple covert missions by Special Forces and an air assault in Syria and Iraq that will send a shock wave across the Muslim world.  He may not have a strategy yet, but I am certain Pentagon planners could provide him with a wide range of options.

The president needs to urgently step up and address this threat with a bold strategy before a group of radicals grab a high-level individual off the streets of Washington DC and threatens a beheading on our soil.

“(ISIS) has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision which will eventually have to be defeated.” – Gen. Martin Dempsey, Aug. 21, 2014