Of Course I'm Afraid!

 Don't mock me, Mr. President, because you're the one who planted my fear under the guise of keeping us safe.  Now you want me to believe we have nothing to fear from refugees who can't even be proven to be Syrian, whether Muslim or otherwise? People from an area who are at war with themselves and it would seem everyone else who doesn't believe as they do?

You can't have it both ways.  When I can go to a Federal office building and enter without going through a metal detector and being patted down, then maybe I'll relax.  If at my age, sex and race I can go to an airport and board a plane without being molested by TSA personnel, maybe I'll relax.

When TSA personnel quit stealing from my luggage and can catch contraband being smuggled as a test, maybe then I'll relax.

When ISIS closes it's schools that teach kids and women how to be suicide bombers maybe I'll relax.
Maybe too when enough Imams say enough is enough and put some clout behind it maybe I'll relax.

Maybe too, when the cops are once again the good guys, professors actually teach rather than pander and students apply themselves to learning rather than self aggrandizement based on their "world views" I'll relax.

Until then Mr. President, keep your snarky criticisms to yourself.  If you were more interested in the well being of the American people more than your own legacy I'd feel a whole lot better.

If you'd show that the bloody slaughter of hundreds of innocent people by people who wish us all dead is of more concern to us than your view of climate change than I might have some respect for you.

As it is, I do not. So yes.  I'm afraid.  For myself, for my community and most of all for my country and I have you and your ilk to thank for it.  In all fairness it isn't just you, the individual, but also of previous administrations who couldn't be bothered and a Congress who's greatest talent is burying its  head in the sand and a military/intelligence community willing to lie about statistics to protect your agenda.

You, sir, are however the voice of it all and yes, I am afraid of you, of what you've done and what you may yet do.

It Isn't Just ISIS!

Remember the young Saudi who was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for the sin of blogging?  He barely survived the first 50 lashes and it was to continue once a week until 1000 had been reached.

There was huge outcry from around the world and the sentence was postponed.  During that time it was appealed to the Saudi Supreme Court which has upheld the sentence. Forget the ins and outs of the "crime" which shouldn't even be debatable. Consider the mentality of those who impose this type of punishment and those who watch and cheer.

So now what?  Aren't we fighting, in our own inimitable way, ISIS for the same cruel behavior?  How can we aid the Saudis when they act in the same barbaric way?  Or any other of the Middle Eastern countries who dole out similar punishments and we well know it.

Now Obama can go back in history and claim that early Popes often ordered the same type of punishment.  Yes, they did, but civilized societies recognized the cruelty of it and ceased.

I've often said part of this country's problem is that we don't understand the Middle Eastern culture. When we become aware of their practices in this day and age we are shocked and appalled as well we should be.  So what do we do when the Saudis tell us and everyone else in the human rights community hat we have no right to interfere with their internal policies and practices.  In other words, shove it.

I'd like to see the world practice some payback rather than conceding everything workable, like severe sanctions, in the futile and naive effort to bring them into the world community.  We've seen from Iran they have no intention of changing their ways; nor is Syria or Iraq or any of the others.  They play nice at the negotiations, for anything, while they beat and maim their citizens.

I believe we need to play a more active part in defeating ISIS because they are the worst of the worst but as for the others, no more aid or weapons or training or anything else they want until they eliminate such practices.

True, they cannot and will not change over night, but they can immediately halt archaic methods of punishment. If they don't we need to do more than complain.  We can.  We won't.  A young blogger is likely to die because of it.  I hope the mirror's reflection is pleasing to those who can apply the pressure to make a change but won't.

Why Only One Raid?

I can't help but wonder why we haven't employed the skills of units like Delta Force more often.  If they can make a strike deep in Syria and take out a major ISIS leader and capture his wife and a servant I wonder why we couldn't have save those Americans who were beheaded.

We didn't have the intelligence.  So they say.  Who gave us the where abouts of the ISIS oil minister? And why is such intelligence so inconsistent. Could it be we don't have the necessary personnel in key places? And if not why not?

It's because we don't have a strategy, just piece meal operations.  It's no way to fight a war. But then we know that.

It just makes me wonder if we had done the things suggested by military and intelligence personnel at the outset of the escalation of unrest we could have stopped it and saved untold lives that were lost under horrible circumstances.  Like the young Jordanian pilot among many others who were burned alive or crucified or worse or beheaded. I get queasy just thinking about the suffering of those poor souls.

Now that ISIS is resurging and retaking territory lost it looks like the fighting, such as it is with the Iraqi forces in retreat, will continue and civilians will continue to bear the brunt of it.  If we had a President with an ounce of compassion he would do what is necessary to stop it as quickly as possible be it sending arms to those willing to fight or sending our troops if more force is necessary.

It will fall, however, to the next President.  The slaughter will continue and my queasiness will get worse.  I want it addressed in the campaign.  I want it laid out strategically as to how it will play out.
It's vital for not only the Middle East but for the world.

It's obvious no one else is ready for the leadership role. No one its to blame.  We happen to be the country with the most advanced military and capability. I think it's a crime against humanity we don't use it just as much as what ISIS is doing to those it captures.

To The President - Quit Condescending And Listen

According to The Wall Street Journal the summit our President should have sponsored was held in Mecca, Islam's most holy city.  Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, a grand Imam from Cairo, gathered some 700 moderate Muslim clerics from several countries to appeal for combating the escalation of extremist violence.

He recognizes, as have other Egyptians including their President Al Sisi, that this interpretation is what is causing strained ties with the rest of the world.  To put it mildly.

It is an internal struggle for the heart and soul of Islam and if it is recognized and so stated by men such as these who our we to disagree?  The problem they must resolve is changing the mind set of their more radical members who look at their own people who don't believe as they do need to be destroyed.

Al-Tayeb even went so far as to say those who burned the Jordanian pilot alive are the ones who deserve the Quranic punishment of death or crucifixion for being enemies of God and the prophet. He even suggested there is a need for a joint Arab military force to combat the extremism.  He has an uphill battle considering the fear that grips the Muslim world.

To say that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam and that by calling them Islamic Extremists insults moderate Muslims is just not true. It does go to show that timidity creates vacuums that are filled by those seeking weakness for an opportunity to further their own agendas.

As as example as stated in another Journal article,  the latest issue of Daibiq, the Islamic State's online English magazine, has an article that explains Islam is not a religion of peace but rather a religion of the sword.  It boiled down to interpretation much as Christians of the world take different interpretations of the Bible yet still consider themselves Christian.

Yes, it is complex.  It is also Islam.   It is time to call it what it is and do what is necessary to help the moderate Islams with the task they face.  That is to arm those who are willing to fight and pick up the slack where it is needed to annihilate the barbarians who at this point are winning the psychological war with physical brutality.

This President is so sure of his superior knowledge of all things mortal I know he will not admit that those who are Islam just may know more about themselves than he does.  I also know he will do nothing to help, he will only appease those who will make matters worse.  The Iranians.  They who are more aligned with the thinking of ISIS than of the West.

 I can only take heart that some clerics and Arab leaders are beginning to find their voice.  I grieve, however, for all those who are yet to die in the most inhumane of manners. This President and those he would call allies, though many of them take issue with that, have no claim to moral clarity.  It is most un-American. 

To The Administration - Grow Up!

Benjamin Netanyahu is an angry man.  He is also frustrated because we who were once his most staunch ally have turned our back on him.  No, not him.  His country.

We're showing it in the most infantile of ways.  Forget "protocol" about who should have informed whom of his coming to Congress to speak.  That's a debatable point considering the actions of our President.

The reason he is coming is to plead his case against the deal the administration is crafting that in essence will allow Iran to produce a nuclear bomb with the intent of using it against Israel, among others.

This is politics at its worst.  All so Obama and Kerry can claim a "deal" that everyone else in the world is against. Netanyahu is coming to tell his reasons that not only he is against it but that we too should be.

What is it he is going to say that has the Democrats, like the lemmings they are, going to boycott the speech, the President refuse to see him and the Vice President conveniently out of town? Perhaps he is going to speak the truth that the administration desperately wants to keep from the public in case a bulb actually lights in our collective intellect and we join in the protest against the deal.

We should listen because the results of Iran being left to their own devices will lead to nuclear proliferation in the region.  The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been telling the administration that they too are nervous at the idea of a nuclear Iran.  Actually they've said more.  They've said they will have their own programs for their own protection.  From the statements you can be sure they are already in negotiations with countries such as Pakistan that can provide them what they need and will happily oblige.

We know from experience that we are now an aside in the world.  Nations are beginning to take the matter of ISIS into their own hands as well they should but we're not even at the table.  We broke it with Bush's ill advised incursion into Iraq and Obama perpetuated by unkept promises and premature withdrawals allowing for the present vacuum to be filled by ISIS and their allies.

Even so, couldn't our President at least act like an adult and listen to what Netanyahu has to say?  Is it because this struggle has nothing to do with him - not us - him? I think it's a likely possibility.

It's troubling to imagine what our next President is going to have to face when it comes to the affairs of the world.  It will be a double edged sword of trying to regain at least some of our lost stature while putting a stop to the brutal chaos.

That phone call at 3 A.M.?  Obama didn't answer it in Benghazi. Neither did Hillary.  We'd do well to make sure the next President will.

The World Waits And Watches

Not a day goes by any more without word of new atrocities enacted by ISIS.  The Jordanians stepped it up when one of their pilots was burned alive.  The Egyptians are now stepping it up since the mass beheading of 21 of its Christian citizens yet it isn't enough to dissuade the ever growing ranks of the terrorists.

The truce in Ukraine has already been broken. A dirty little war being allowed because it's not ours. Forget treaties and obligations and broken promises.

People are being slaughtered throughout the world in the most heinous of ways yet for the most part every one is watching and waiting.  Why?  Mostly politics.  And if anything could give politics a bad name I should think this would be it.

The ability to understand has long ago passed me by.  How any country or its leadership can sit back and watch what's happening and pass on acting is beyond me.  Don't tell me it's because we're war weary that the President won't authorize boots on the ground.  I cannot believe the American people are willing to let this massacre continue because no one wants boots on the ground.  If it's true I really can't get my head around it.

More likely it's political.  Our President has chosen to give the barbarians a pass.  Others follow suit because they don't know how to take the lead.  Since we've always taken it before I think we have a moral obligation to humanity to take it now.  But we won't.

Other efforts will be marginal because we aren't there. I think we're guilty of crimes against humanity just as much as the Russian aggressors and the Islamic extremists.  We're doing nothing even though we have the ability to wipe them off the face of the earth.  Those in the region should help.  Yes. But they have neither the man power nor the expertise to do it themselves. They look to us and we aren't there.  So everyone sits and waits.

What atrocity will hit the headlines next?  The group of Kurds who have been captured and are being kept in cages like the Jordanian pilot? Will they be burned to death as threatened?  Would that be enough?  Or will we sit and wait for even worse though what could be worse is beyond my imagination.

It is not a proud moment in the history of the world.  It is not a proud moment for America for we offer no leadership.  Even worse, we have none to offer.  What a sad state of affairs.

A Mistake By ISIS?

ISIS bid to intimidate Jordan into backing out of the coalition, such as it is, has failed.  At least for the time being.  So now they are trying to pin a guilt trip on them by claiming their increased bombing raids has killed the last American hostage - a 26 year old female aid worker from Prescott, AZ.

We shouldn't fall into that trap.  While it may be true, I wouldn't bet on it.  I suspect she have been long dead just as was the Jordanian pilot and I tremble at the thought of what she may have suffered before and during.

My guess is they used this not only to further intimidate the Jordanians, create outrage against Jordon from us but also to hide the fact she was already dead before a situation occurred where they'd have to show proof she was still alive.

Some degree of truth will seep out as the story is clarified; maybe we'll ask for proof of death.  If she was, however, killed by a missile strike then consider her fortunate.  It was probably quick with minimal suffering.  We can hope that was the case.

War is Hell. This enemy is the most evil of evils in modern times.  Look at the civilians that have already perished and how.  There will be more.  Too many more. As I hope this young lady has now  been exempted from further suffering, I'd like to think it was a just cause that caused it.  The beginning, real beginning, of the annihilation of ISIS.

As I understand why the Muslims like the King of Jordan cringe at the use of the word Islam in the description of these monsters, it is still Islam they have prostituted and they are with no apologies extremists and terrorists. Let's worry less about semantics and more about destroying this that is so evil.

Pure Evil

It's a shame it took the horrendous death of a young pilot to rally Muslims against the evil that lurks among them.  One can hope his death was not in vain.  It has changed the dynamic and maybe, just maybe, the fight against ISIS has a new leader.

The King of Jordan is one of the good guys just as was his father before him.  He has problems though what with the number of Palestinian refugees in his country and unrest fomented by the Muslim Brotherhood.

That being said, however, if the French, British and Canadians will rally their support behind him with the weaponry needed he can put a world of hurt on ISIS.  Why those three?  They have had the most prominent brushes with ISIS in their own countries and therefore have a huge stake in the game.
He should also have as boots on the ground allies the fierce Kurds who have shown their mettle in the fight for Kobani.

I don't for a minute think the Jordanian response is going to dissuade ISIS; I think it will rally them to even more horrendous deeds. Even if it's false bravado it's just as deadly. Therein lies a problem for us in case the President thinks he'll get a pass now that the Jordanians are madder than hell.

ISIS holds a 26 year old female American aid worker.  She could be next. If ISIS wants to take their shock level yet another step higher, she will be.

We're told by the White House press secretary that the President is using every resource available to locate her. I hope this is true but the President has said  many times before he'd take action than never has.  I'd not bet he will now.

So what fate could await this young woman? My husband suggested they might do as they do with many of their women - stone her to death.

What would the President do then? What would we demand?  And should he or we wait for such a despicable action to take place before upping our own ante in this fight?

Actions speak louder than words.  Right now I'm hearing the Jordanians and Kurds loud and clear while the "leader" of the free world,  rhetorically speaking, is no where to be seen.

Another Notch In The ISIS Belt

Just when you think ISIS atrocities can't get any worse, they do.  The burning alive of the captured Jordanian pilot is perversion off the scale.

This is a tough way to get the middle eastern countries to pick up arms and finally, hopefully, put boots on the ground against these perverts.  It's time for them to understand it's no longer one branch of Islam against another but rather Islam itself against the worst perversion imaginable of their religion. After all, the Kurds have.  They can sort out their own politics later.  Its time to destroy this consummate evil.

It's time to quit worrying about Muslims being offended by our alleged lumping of them all together.  I don't believe the majority of moderate Muslims believe that we do but those who do must understand it's because they haven't been willing to call out those who foment terror within their own ranks. A few have but no where nearly enough to be heard with any impact.

We too need a strategy.  We won't lead because our commander-in-chief doesn't have the capability nor the will.  Others will have to take up the mantle of leadership but we must understand those smaller countries with less sophisticated and far fewer military capabilities need more from us than unkept promises. When we promise them arms and munitions they deserve more than meals ready to eat - if that.

If our strategy is to supply support and let those in the neighborhood fight it out then we owe them that support without ridiculous delays or outright neglect.  If we don't it will surely hit our shores sooner rather than later.  Remember ISIS has other western prisoners including an American woman.  Will it take her suffering the same fate as the young pilot to get our government to honor it's promises?  I desperately hope not.

Remember too it is seeping through the cracks in Europe and right next door in Canada. There is no chance that our President is going to change his world view just as he won't recognize the short comings of his domestic view.  We can however support those who are trying to fight the fight without the strong hand of America guiding them by listening to what Prime Minister Netanyahu has to say about the consequences of a nuclear Iran because as surely I write this the fight will filter down to being between Iran and ISIS, winner take all.

The meek shall not inherit the earth - or what's left of it.

Is ISIS Safe From Itself?

I listened to interview with a criminal profiler last night where she was explaining what type of person is actually capable of beheading another.  Especially with a knife the way Jihad John goes about it.

On the positive side, there aren't many though ISIS seems to have more than it's share.  I suggest that's because they have attracted an army of the disenfranchised, misfits  and mentally unbalanced of not only their region but of the world.

It's scary that some do live among us, note the recent beheading in Oklahoma.  She explained that the process itself is not easy when using nothing but a knife, no matter how sharp. I do wonder too if the victims we've been witness to on television have been drugged to some degree.  Granted they are surrounded by armed madmen but the expressions seem void, blank and not even a twitch of resistance. Perhaps it's a state of self hypnosis knowing what's coming.

To do this, however, it was explained that one must be basically dead inside.  No conscience.  No emotion other than the thrill,  the high gotten from the act.  It's hard to imagine such a void in a human body.

It was also explained that the recruiting sites on the Internet don't cater to that side of ISIS and few that join expect to be engaging in that end of it.  It's hard to understand what the appeal may be when this is the only side we see.

The leadership of ISIS, however, has it's group of maniacal thugs and uses them well for their purposes.  What happens, though, when the bombings don't cease and the military action escalates and most importantly when they run out of western  and non-compliant captives?  What will they do to satisfy the blood lust of their self-cultivated monsters?

It would of course be just if they turned against those very ones who have enabled them.  It would only be better if one of those doing the beheading was a woman and she was let loose against al-Baghdadi.

I'll settle for one of the men though.  I cannot imagine any woman, any woman, being capable of such unspeakably cruel violence.

Why Time Is Of The Essence

Yes.  There has been another beheading.  This time a French citizen by an al Qaeda splinter group in Algeria.  Why?  Because of France's part in the fight against IS.

These horrors are going to continue for several reasons I think.  One, no matter how many or who, they shock.  Which of course is the purpose. Two, the splinter groups want in on the glory of the actions so they'll play copy cat.

I cannot wonder how long it will be until some crack pot in this country gets the idea and decides to try it. Something like the way the recently well publicized Knockout Game is played. The Knockout Game, to refresh your memory is when a person attempts to knock out a random victim with one punch.  It doesn't matter if the victim is young or old, male or female, etc.  Just handy. The results have often been life threatening or worse for the victim and the perpetrator more often than not gets away. I fear someone or some group trying to make their mark might try the Beheading Game.

All that being gruesomely hashed out, let me move on.  Now that the President has progressed from pacifism to war, is there really still need to not have boots on the ground?  We already do anyway, no matter how it's couched.

I'm thinking the training of the rag tag Free Syrian Army and the inadequately armed Kurdish Pershmega troops would both be better served, along with the cause, by having our military presence in the neighborhood rather than shipping them off to another country.  We are the ones with the know how.  We should be sharing it; not denying it for an ill advised promise that has now been broken.  I won't argue semantics.  We are at war.  We do have boots on the ground. That being the case, they are in harms way.  There is no way they can be both present and beyond harm.

I do believe time is of the essence.  I understand the need for a strategy though I've yet to see one come into focus.  Too much is being held back. I realize that to eliminate the threat is not something that can be accomplished quickly but the IS forces and their friends must be made to understand that with every beheading or crucifixion or whatever other barbaric means they might employ, we will not be deterred.

The more quickly they understand this the better.  It won't happen by micromanaging and cherry picking.

One thing I do hope for the future is that we've learned it can be disastrous to ignore the reality of what's going on in the world.  Especially if the purpose is strictly political. There is no ideology be it personal or of a group that can trump truth.  Nor should it.

This War Needs Cautious Assessment

Okay.  We're not even 24 hours into what we're finally calling a war.  That we've taken the action we have is good.  That Arab countries joined in is even better even though some of them flew but did not bomb. That we hit enough IS targets in the right places to have their leadership on the run rather than being able to dig in is probably best of all.

That being said, there are a few cautionary notes.  One, there is no Plan B that we know of.  And two, there are still no boots on the ground and the time line for those willing gives IS, along with its counterparts, time to regroup before having to face those who can rout them out.

We have also learned that there has been another al Qaeda affiliate, Khorasan, which apparently had plans for an imminent attack on us.  Where did they come from?  We're now told they've been around for some time.  Shouldn't we know about them or have they been brought to mind merely to give cover for our bombing strikes? Giving those strikes legitimacy because of plans and a group we knew nothing about.

It's the convolution that's frustrating. Knowing now that they do exist along with so many others that are like minded, to win the battle against the extremist mind set is going to take more than cheering one night of attacks.  We still don't know who all is in the coalition and what each has promised to do.  It's a political nightmare for all of them.

I think it important to remember part of what's at stake here and why we need to be wholly involved.  While it isn't our fight alone, someone has to lead it. And it's not just a fight against IS.  It's a fight against pure evil and for human decency.  It's in all against not only the worst of the worst like IS, but also the likes of Assad, Putin, Kim Jong-un, the Iranian Mullahs and all like minded dictators.

It's a fight to show them their inhumanity will not be tolerated by the rest of the world.  If only it were so.  If it were there  would be far less reluctance even without the strong leadership we used to provide. As it is each participant has to search their own conscience and proceed as cohesively as possible. Hopefully, one day, our leadership will return but it won't be soon and the world cannot wait.

Expect a few burps along the way while an incomplete strategy shakes out.  Hope the President allows himself to listen to those who know better than he what is necessary for victory. Micromanaging it will doom it.

Remember too, it isn't principled war we Americans are against, it's not being allowed to win those wars.   Don't under estimate our determination when the goal is just and coherent. We can and will win. It's what Americans do.

It IS Our War

Listening to the Sunday morning Talk shows I note that the Democrats are still espousing the President's strategy and the Republican are saying it's not enough.

A couple of things occurred to me after hearing that a British aid worker has joined the ranks of sacrificial lambs to western politics.

Two arguments go against the grain that it's a regional war and those in the region have to sort it.

First conventional borders have been erased by the new State.  It is coming perilously close to obliterating even more - Jordan and Turkey, who incidentally is a Shiria state want-to-be under Erdogan.

The once assumed safe haven of Baghdad you'll note is surrounded by them making the formation of an all inclusive Iraqi state more difficult than it has been already.

That covers the territorial part of the argument.

Now for personnel.  You'll remember the first two deaths were American journalists.  The third a Brit and the fourth, another Brit, is fingered.  Remember they hold Italians and Turkish diplomats too.  They seem to be choosing those who have a connection with the military as their first victims no matter it may have been from generations back.  An excuse is an excuse.  Don't think for one minute that when they run out of captives that have any sort of military history they'll not turn to who ever is left.

Back to my argument.  Americans and Brits. That alone should make it ours.  But more than that consider how many foreign nations are in the middle east in ongoing business ventures.  I remember when my husband was working for both an oil company then an electronics firm where his travels took him.  Damascas, Beirut, Israel to mention a few plus a good number of South American countries.  Those were days of relative peace but I can recall his stories of kids playing soccer with military rifles slung over their shoulders. This is what it has escalated into.

The radical groups who do not call themselves ISIL and are operating in different territory will feed off of its success.  What happens when business or oil patch workers are captured and paraded out for execution?  Are we going to say it's a British problem if they are Brits?  Or Canadian or Italian or Swiss or whatever?

The politicians cannot quit playing politics even when human lives are at stake. People who care more about truth and compassion than politics are the ones losing their lives.  Meanwhile in Washington, the dreary beat goes on.

When they won't face up to the facts about our own border, I don't expect they'll ever face up to the facts elsewhere.

They don't want our boots on the ground.  How about a bunch of $800 wingtips?  They'll quickly learn the reality of not having skilled leadership and forces to back them up!

There Are Always Consequences

The Presiden'ts "speech" is now in the history books.  The critics are out in full force and unfortunately they seem to be outnumbering the supporters.  It's a bad news situation no matter how you look at it.

First we have a President at odds with his own words.  He presented a plan of sorts with so many holes in it you can't blame Congress for being reluctant to open the check book or voice support.  On the other hand, if they don't the world as we know it will disintegrate before our eyes.

There comes a time when war is necessary.  To worry about legacy above need is pathetic and foolhardy.  The time to worry about legacy should have been before the country was diminished in the eyes of the world by arrogant and dismissive actions toward our allies. They owe us nothing.  Why put their own in harms way when they have good reason to doubt we have their back?

The turmoil in our politics here at home adds to the image of weak leadership.  We want, now, for the world to follow our lead.  What lead?  We want the easy part.  The air strikes.  We want everyone else to commit to the hard part.  Boots on the ground.  Even though the threat is at their door, why would they want to follow a "leader" who is less than committed in the first place?

Now it will be politics as usual.  The parsing of words.  Struggling with who has the authority to do what. Heaven forbid anything interfere with mid term campaigning!

In the meantime ISIL or whatever - I think now the Islamic State is most accurate - continues on it's determined pursuit of followers, territory and mayhem.  The longer we wait or nibble around the edges, the worse it will get.  What happens when the British aid worker loses his head?  Or one of the Turkish diplomats the "State" holds?

Israel is always reminding the world to remember the holocaust and vow never again.  They show their determination daily in their fight with Hamas.  Expand on that while remembering Hamas is cut from the same cloth as the State.  How did it start?  With the world dismissing a seemingly insignificant little bully of a man with huge ambition.

How is this starting? With the world dismissing what they suppose is little more than a collection of malcontents in rag tag armies bent on mischief?  Some mischief.

The situation gives new meaning to the saying, "Move it or lose it".  It's time to move it!

The Speech - Now What?

I listened to the President's speech and was left wondering, now what?  It proved to be pretty much what I expected.  A lot of flourish with little detail.

In the President's defense, there is only so much he could tell.  For instance, the question that arose about what would happen when and if a fighter pilot is shot down over Syria or in ISIS territory.  How would we get him out before he suffered the same fate or worse than our two journalists? I'd like to think the top brass have a handle on that though it's a tough one.

What really worries me is the time line.  I know it can't be an exact, but by the time we get the troops in Iraq re-trained and the Free Syrian Army up to snuff so that there will be "boots on the ground"to help the Kurds ISIS will have had ample time to do far more damage than already done.

An aside on the Free Syrian Army that the President so blithely called inadequet because they are no more than pharmicists and technicians, I'd like to remind him it's the same stuff from which our reserves and National Guard are made and they've done an exemplary job!

What he presented is a piece meal strategy at best in a war that can't be won that way.  Every time we stall or drag our feet, Iran continues toward it's nuclear goal and ISIS towards it's goal of literally slaughtereing all who do not agree with them.

Telling us how great our economy is and how great we are does nothing toward warding off more of the jihadist aggressiveness what's more destroying them.

My feeling is he said what was written for him to say in an effort to get the country behind increased military involvement into which he has been forced.  It's not so much that we are tired of war as they constantly tell us, but that he is.  He doesn't want to deal with anything that doesn't fit into his 21st century vision for the world.  For the world, not of the world.  Because he cannot.  The world is far different than he would have it and he has trouble with that concept. His way to deal with it is to ignore it.

Unfortunately ignoring reality doesn't change it.  One can hope he gets a coalition that's willing to fight.  So far no one else, other than the Kurds, are willing to help the boots on the ground movement.  Going to the UN Security Council will do nothing but make public the ridicule and wrath of Russia and China.

What I see in all this is a struggle within himself as to whether he must follow the counsel of his advisors or continue to follow his own.  If past history is any indication he'll follow his own.  Our enemies will continue on their current paths.  Nothing will change to a meaningful degree while this President is in office short of an actual attack within the borders of the United States.

By the time a new President takes office, the world problem will be far worse than it is today.  Obama will walk away from it probably still blaming Bush.  I wonder if the new President will blame Obama six years into his/her presidency.

Unfortunately a belated blame game does no good other than to divide. Facing the issue and acting on  it in a timely manner is what is needed. The speech was nice. Unless he follows through in that timely manner, it will all have been for naught.

As a footnote, might I add Congress would do well to quit playing politics with it and also do what is required of them in the same timely manner.  Elections be damned.

It's Time For Multitasking

They say women are better at multitasking than men.  In looking at how the President handles issues I can see how that conclusion has been drawn.

I can be proven wrong if his speech Wednesday night will outline more than a linear strategy for dealing with ISIS. I expect however, for him to lay the bulk of the burden on others.

In some respects he should.  Europe, Britain in particular, have more active radicals in their country than do we.  Note I said active.  France has a larger Muslim population than even Britain.  They both have a great deal at stake.

So do the other Middle Eastern countries including Saudi, the Emirates and Jordan.  Even Pakistan and India where the radicals have been gaining a foothold.  Ideally they should all share the responsibility. Israel too is in the mix.

The President has promised no boots on the ground.  This can be achieved by properly arming those who would provide those boots, namely the Kurds, but will we?  Can others fill the need if we don't?  Will they?

It's hard to fight a war without an action being identified as such.  It will be interesting to hear just what the President will call it. I wonder what the families of the beheaded journalists would call it. No matter, it is a war. It needs to be fought like one. All the fancy words in the world can't change the reality of it.

What worries me is how he tends to try to shape events to suit his idealistic vision rather than the actuality of it.  He did it by withdrawing everything from Iraq leaving them hanging.  We're about to do it in Afghanistan.  He did it in Benghazi with a ridiculous tale both he and Hillary should be ashamed of rather than trying to perpetuate.

Because of his previous behavior I don't expect his about to be announced strategy to be sufficient.  Especially when he's talking about a three year plan!  This isn't some leisurely chess game where hours can be taken between moves.

I'll wait and see though.  There's nothing else to do.  I'm wagering he'll do little if anything before the midterms then will drag his feet on anything he's laid out. It's the nature of the beast.  Boy, I would really be glad for this to be a misjudgement on my part!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Finally, the President stepped to the fore and did the right thing.  In two actions actually.  Dropping relief supplies to the stranded Christians and striking the ISIS forces.

I could be snarky about a lot of this, but I'll leave it at he finally did something constructive.  I could add a lot of other things he could and should be doing in the region and Ukraine but I'll let that too rest.

 It's the week end. The weather is hot and getting hotter.  Gaza has rampted up it's assault on Israel once again.  Putin is being Putin and Obama is off on vacation.

Next week will provide plenty of grist for the mill. 

Will Obama Do The Right Thing?

Whether or not Obama should take action to help 40,000 refugees from the horrors of ISIS should be a no brainer.  He should. For once he should be decisive and immediate.  Babies are already dying.  The elderly will soon follow and then every one else.  They are dying from thirst in 100+ degree days - and hunger. All for being other than radical Islamists.

The question is, will he?  I doubt it.  He'll ponder it to death.

From what military experts have been saying, in order to deliver humanitarian relief to these religious refugees, the first action must be eliminating the ISIS troops closest to their location.  Otherwise any humanitarian drop would likely be futile, with ISIS getting there first then killing any survivors anyway, photographing the carnage and posting it to You Tube.

We have some logistical problems, however.  With everyone in the region mad at us or discounting us, we have no place from which to launch a attack in a timely matter.  We're talking about days and hours.  Not weeks or months. Is there a way?  Of course their is. But we need to move on it NOW.

Where is the rest of the world?  Who knows.  With Hamas promising to resume their attacks on Israel if all their demands aren't meant and Russia ramping up their own sanctions against us, the rest of the world seems to be cowering with their tails between their legs.  Right there with us.

Once we would have taken the lead and the others would follow, but there is no leadership from any one any more.  It need not even be boots on the ground but rather air strikes. Take them out, drop the relief supplies then turn tail and run if that's what we're wont to do.  But do it!

For once in your Presidency do the right thing.  Do something other than entertain dictators and human rights violators in celebration at the White House!  Don't dither.  There isn't the time.

And don't use us as the reason to take no action.  We're tired of war.  We have no stomach for it.  Well, that wouldn't necessarily be true if the recent wars in which we have been engaged had been fought to win.  Not disengage leaving behind unhinged masses of haters of all others but themselves.

It's a sorry state in which the world finds itself. It's an even sorrier state in which the world finds our  President and his lack of leadership.  That's what I have no stomach for.