By Alan
Caruba
Like many
Americans I advocated ending our participation in the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq. I was wrong. Being war-weary is no excuse for not realizing that we are
in a very long war with the enemies of civilization and reluctant to being
fully engaged in it.
On Monday,
President Obama had to take a break from his Martha’s Vineyard vacation to make
a short televised statement that, as far as he’s concerned, this is Iraq’s war
and, though he did not mention him by name, Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
has got to get out of the way of the newly constituted Iraqi government. At
this writing he’s refusing to do that.
You could
see how unhappy Obama was when he had to authorize U.S. forces to engage again
in Iraq, this time to slow the advance of the Islamic State’s (IS) forces on
Erbil using air power while declaring that there would be “no boots on the
ground.” He only took action when it was clear that an IS genocide was in the
making. Only the U.S., England and France had the capacity to drop food and
water, and provide aid to the refugees.
Both the
President’s and his press secretary’s earlier statements emphasized the need
for “Iraqi forces” to take the lead in opposing the IS, but unmentioned was the
way two divisions of Iraqi forces fled from combat with them and left a
treasure trove of U.S. weaponry, tanks, and vehicles. Those who did not escape
fast enough were taken prisoner and killed. Crucifixions and beheadings are
favored by IS along with killing Christian women and children, reportedly by
burying them alive.
The Iraqi
government is barely functional. Its military, despite years of equipping and
training by U.S. advisors, were clearly reluctant to die for Iraq. Maliki had
replaced many of the seasoned officers with political appointees. If there is anything left of the Iraqi
military, there is little mention of it.
The
military of the Kurds, one of America’s best allies in Iraq, has been begging
the U.S. for military equipment, but the Obama administration waited to provide
any until there was no other option. The government of Maliki—if it still is
under his control—has denied the Kurds military aid and funds due them. If they
survive IS, the Kurds have every right to declare themselves an independent
state. Of strategic importance is an airfield that U.S. planes could use to
attack IS, but Obama doesn’t want to do that in a way that will destroy them.
So that
makes what is occurring there our war, an American war, just as the decision to
respond in Afghanistan after 9/11 was an American war and the decision to
depose Saddam Hussein as Iraq’s dictator was an American war. In both cases
Americans learned that there was no real government to take charge if they
left, so they stayed. Most Arab nations were and are run by monarchs or men who
seized power. They have little experience with democracy and the divisions
between Sunni and Shiites work against cooperation.
American
forces stayed in Iraq until President Obama pulled them out. They are, as least
in the skies above Iraq, back and there is a small contingent of "boots on the ground." We have forces in Afghanistan, but as Obama told a
West Point class, he will take them out in 2015. Telling the enemy when you’re
going to leave is not taught to West Pointers any more than telling the enemy
when and where you intend to attack.
Obama's disdain for our nation's military is rivaled only by his devotion to Islam.
Obama's disdain for our nation's military is rivaled only by his devotion to Islam.
We have a President so lacking in any military experience or desire to use our
military that he has been more than happy to let “sequestration” reduce our
forces to the pre-World War Two level. That was a bad idea back then and is a
worse idea today. Another bad idea is the reduction of captains and majors—some
in war zones—that is being implemented. These are the leadership corps to whom
non-commissioned officers respond.
His lack
of regard for our nation’s military contributed to the neglect of the problems
that were revealed in the Veterans Administration; problems Obama was aware of
as a U.S. Senator before he ran for office declaring the conflict in Iraq “a
dumb war.”
On August 12 The Washington Times reported "The president who spent years touting the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq suddenly has had to distance himself from that action. At the White House on Saturday morning — less than 48 hours after authorizing airstrikes against Islamist militants and humanitarian air drops to save the lives of trapped Iraqi civilians — President Obama blamed his predecessor, George W. Bush, for the absence of American troops in Iraq and rejected the assertion that he could have left a small peacekeeping force in the war-torn nation." How pathetic is that?
On August 12 The Washington Times reported "The president who spent years touting the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq suddenly has had to distance himself from that action. At the White House on Saturday morning — less than 48 hours after authorizing airstrikes against Islamist militants and humanitarian air drops to save the lives of trapped Iraqi civilians — President Obama blamed his predecessor, George W. Bush, for the absence of American troops in Iraq and rejected the assertion that he could have left a small peacekeeping force in the war-torn nation." How pathetic is that?
In the real world there are real
enemies and using force to repel and destroy them is the essence of history. I
doubt Obama has the character or the wisdom to engage the Islamic State with
sufficient force to destroy it.
Attacking
the Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria is an act of self-defense for
America in the same way the attacks on al Qaeda were and are self-defense.
Better to do it in Iraq, Syria and anywhere else we must than to have to do it
here.
With the
anniversary of 9/11 just weeks away, it behooves us all to remember we were
attacked on our homeland and a far more barbaric entity, the Islamic State,
will surely attack us if we do not kill them first.
© Alan
Caruba, 2014
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