Let’s pray that our reluctant Commander-in-Chief gets fully behind the efforts of those like the Kurds, who are willing to take the fight to the ISIS forces

Waiting for Josh Earnest to interpret the President

By Rolf Yungclas ——Bio and Archives--September 8, 2014

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In evidence of his lack of consultation with his advisers, President Obama stated on Thursday, August 28 that, "we don't have a strategy, yet" in regard to the growing international threat of the genocidal terrorists who call themselves the Islamic State.

And while White House Press Secretary Josh-ing and Not so Earnest explained how the press needed to wait for his interpretation of what the President had said before commenting on it, we know that the "we" Obama was referring to was really just himself. As the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the Pentagon have been doing their job developing strategies, the President has been golfing, fundraising and partying too much to even attend national security briefings. This is a daily requirement of every President, especially when the nation is facing threats to our national security such as we now are, and our Commander-in-Chief doesn’t seem to care. Giving get-tough speeches written for a teleprompter, especially when they are weeks and months after they should have been given, is no substitute for counseling with his multi-billion dollar system of advisers to identify threats to national security and determine what should be done about them. While some of this cavalier attitude can be attributed to our President’s lack of administrative experience, the perception is now spreading, even among Democrats, that he is bored with his Presidential duties and would just as soon spend all his time golfing, vacationing, and making speeches at fundraisers.

After several days of spin control by Administration spokespeople after the President’s surprisingly honest assessment of not having a strategy, Brett Baier succinctly summed it up when opening his September 3, 2014 edition of Special Report:

“In Search of Clarity: President Obama tries to clear up his ‘no strategy against ISIS in Syria’ gaffe and ends up contradicting himself again. And again, the Administration scrambles.”

Finally starting to get with the program, Obama’s teleprompter helped him get it right on Friday, September 5 at a NATO Summit meeting in Newport, Wales, when he declared: “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine threatens our vision of a Europe that is whole, free and at peace. In the Middle East, the terrorist threat from ISIL poses a growing danger. Here at this summit, our Alliance has summoned the will, the resources and the capabilities to meet all of these challenges.” So after months of letting Putin and the Russians have their way in the Ukraine, and ISIS having its way in Syria and Iraq, President Obama has decided it’s time to have a strategy, not only for the U.S., but with our allies in NATO and our Middle East allies. A September 1 article by David Danelo for ISN pointed out who our greatest Middle Eastern ally needs to be:

“The only force standing between the Islamic State and their expanding sphere of brutality is the Kurdish Peshmerga. In a region filled with guerrillas, militias, and paramilitaries, the 300,000-strong Peshmerga stand out as the West’s only dependable regional ally and the region’s only real hope for destroying the Islamic State.” “Ultimately, the West’s best ally in this fight—both to destroy IS and prevent it from rising again—are the Kurds. For this reason, Western governments should maintain sustained and strong political support for the autonomous Kurdish region, regardless of who is Baghdad’s prime minister. Although such support does not require endorsement of an independent Kurdish state, Western authorities would benefit from more liberal dealings with the Kurdish region, not only on arms deals but also energy investments. Focusing on state structures and national borders distracts from the two most important regional goals: the destruction of IS and preservation of a stable Kurdish region. Western security depends on achieving these aims.”

In an interview with CBN News (August 19, cbn.com), District Commander Ali Hussein of the Peshmerga, said:

"Two things are very important for us: to be armed by the United States, as well as be trained by the United States, because we have the experience," he explained. "But even if we have heavy weapons, we need the training in order to use them." "Right now Kurdistan is fighting the terror on behalf of the whole free world," he said. "The terrorists of ISIS have gathered here from everywhere in the world, and they pose a threat to countries all over the world, from Australia to Europe and other countries." "The battle of the whole world moved here to Kurdistan," he continued. "Because we are the people of this region, we know how to fight against ISIS. We know the area and we know what we need to do, so this is why we need the support of the world in order to stand against ISIS."

Let’s pray that our reluctant Commander-in-Chief gets fully behind the efforts of those like the Kurds, who are willing to take the fight to the ISIS forces.

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Rolf Yungclas——Bio and Archives

Rolf Yungclas is a recently retired newspaper editor from southwest Kansas who has been speaking out on the issues of the day in newspapers and online for over 15 years

Let’s pray that our reluctant Commander-in-Chief gets fully behind the efforts of those like the Kurds, who are willing to take the fight to the ISIS forces

Waiting for Josh Earnest to interpret the President

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