C'mon President

U.S. Strategy Seeks to Avoid ISIS Prophecy from the NY Times

George Bush never stated it, but very much used a fly paper strategy by going to war in Iraq.  For some reason Obama never thought that agitating Jihadist's and goading them to battle our soldiers in their lands was a good strategy.  Even though our never stated strategy was clearly starting to bear fruit Obama put an end to it in Iraq.  Obviously (or obliviously) Obama knew What? was best.

What? was so smart about handing Iraq over to Iran to deal with?  How was that in our or any of our allies best interests?

Well as it turns out Obama's strategy is looking as foolish as he thought Bush was for invading Iraq.

So now we have an emboldened Iran and a resurgent Sunni jihadists. And now we have a very limited number of troops back in Iraq and presumably in Syria as well.   But those troops are not seen as occupiers in the eyes of the Jihadist's and those they are recruiting. (rolling eyes and smh)

So now we find out from the no less than the NY Times we must be careful not to fulfill some crazy Jihadist prophecy/fantasy.  C'mon President Obama don't tell me you believe in some crazy Jihadist superstition.  You want to do something about stemming Jihadist recruiting then go right after there crazy superstitions.  They want a battle in Dabiq, lets blow the place up and then send in the Marines along with your much vaunted international coalition.

Put aside your pride Obama, Bush was right, battle them over there and the problem won't be as bad over here.  

Iraq War: The Inconvenient Facts

Tonight in the Democratic Party Presidential debate, they were all in agreement that the Iraq War was the worst foreign policy mistake in American History.

Really???

The facts:
In 2009, when GWB left the White House the nation of Iraq was stable, Al Qaeda in Iraq if not totally defeated was badly beaten and on their way to defeat, and the nation of Iraq was heading in the right direction.

What happened?  Obama failed to negotiate a Status Of Forces agreement allowing US troops to stay in country to insure the progress would continue in the right direction.  The US troops in country were the one honest broker that would be able to see that the Shia, Sunni, and Kurds all got along.

Obama and Clinton then neglected Iraq and dropped the ball during the Arab Spring allowing Iran to extend it's influence in Iraq leading to the neglect of the Sunni and Kurdish area's of the country, which in time led to the rise of ISIS and a new civil war in Iraq starting in 2013.

If Iraq War is the worst foreign policy mistake in American History, it's because of failure, neglect, and negligence directly attributable to the foreign policy of Obama and the Democratic Party.  

I support The Lions Of Rojava

The Lions of Rojava are Westerners fighting with the Kurds versus the Daesh (aka ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.
Here is a story on them.

Iraq War Reporter Dexter Filkins On the Worst Mistake Of the Iraq War

Bill Clinton, Had He Done the Right Thing Back Then...

...how would history be different now?

What got me thinking about this question again and ole' Slick Willy was the way former Texas Ranger Ron Washington handled his infidelity the past couple of weeks.  And also how my Governor Mark Dayton reacted to the Adrian Peterson situation with these remarks:

"It is an awful situation. Yes, Mr. Peterson is entitled to due process and should be 'innocent until proven guilty.' However, he is a public figure, and his actions, as described, are a public embarrassment to the Vikings organization and the State of Minnesota,"

Back in 1998, I was adamant that the only proper thing for Bill Clinton to do in light of the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal was for him to resign his office in disgrace.  That was clearly the right thing for him to do.  Yet for reasons that may forever be beyond me Bill wouldn't do it and the Democrats wouldn't make him do it.  It's not like the Democrats wouldn't still hold the Presidency and I believe it's the only reason why GWB even had a shot at beating Al Gore in 2000.

Would 9/11 have happened? I think probably so and the War in Afghanistan would have gone pretty much as it has.

Would the Iraq War have happened?  I think the chances are better than 50/50 that it would have.  A little later than 2003 probably, but I believe Al Gore wanted Saddam gone.

Would Gore have gotten a 2nd term? I'm 98% positive he would have.

Would the financial collapse of 2008 happened?  Pretty much 100% sure nothing would have happened to stop that.  But I believe the nation would have been in better financial shape thanks to no Bush tax cuts for the top 2%.  Yes, I believe the Bush tax cuts were clearly a mistake.

Who wins the 2008 election?  In light of that, a Republican obviously.  I don't even know if we would know Barak Obama's name right now had Bill Clinton resigned.

Would we have gotten Osama at the exact same time we eventually did?  Pretty much.

Who wins in 2012? No idea, but what I'm sure of is we would be in a lot better shape in the "Long War" than we are now.

Why didn't that SOB Bill resign?

Obama's Iraq Policy

Disaster by Peter Beinert of The Atlantic

Candidate Obama On Iraq, "I Will Do Stupid Shit!"

Op-ed from the New York Times
In this campaign, there are honest differences over Iraq, and we should discuss them with the thoroughness they deserve. Unlike Senator McCain, I would make it absolutely clear that we seek no presence in Iraq similar to our permanent bases in South Korea, and would redeploy our troops out of Iraq and focus on the broader security challenges that we face. But for far too long, those responsible for the greatest strategic blunder in the recent history of American foreign policy have ignored useful debate in favor of making false charges about flip-flops and surrender.

I thought Barak's foreign policy motto was "Don't Do Stupid Shit". Can we all be honest and admit that Barak's policy in Iraq was some pretty stupid shit. This Nation would have been served far better had we done what McCain said we should do in Iraq back in 2008.

My Congressman Rick Nolan

In his most recent add Rick Nolan starts off by talking about how "so called nation building" is a waste of money.  I guess this is what polls well with all the folks up here in the sticks.  If he had his way we would pull our troops out of Afghanistan as we did in Iraq and were forced to do with all our people from Obama's War in Libya. Were you even aware that there are no American's left in Libya in any capacity.  Yep, not doing any nation building in Libya and giving up on it nearly cold turkey in Iraq has worked out swell.  In Afghanistan I'm sure things will turn out swell as well.  Just remember Syria had Chemical weapons, Pakistan has the ultimate Islamist prize, Nuclear Weapon's.  

He is also all for shrinking our military.  Yep sticking our head in the sand, while the world spins out of control is just the kind of leadership we need more of in Washington. smh

Well Written, I Couldn't Agree More

The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their President.

This was from the comment section of the Washington Post in an article about figuring out Obama's worldview.