PARTING SHOT... How does a war-weary president convince a war-weary nation to go to war again? Last night, President Obama tried. He laid out the case against ISIS, a ruthless terrorist organization which does pose a serious threat to American interests, even if not yet the American homeland. And he outlined his strategy for dealing with that threat. Fortunately, his strategy is not out of the George Bush school of shoot first, ask questions later. He’s taking a much more careful, deliberate, thoughtful approach. Unfortunately, his strategy depends on four factors we can’t control. To accompany and support U.S. warplanes bombing ISIS targets inside Syria, the president wants to see: a new, stable Iraqi government; a new, well-trained and well-armed Iraqi Army; a new, well-trained and well-armed Syrian opposition; and ground troops from friendly Sunni Arab nations in the region, like Saudi Arabia. Not one of those is in place today. Everyone of them is iffy. Which means the whole strategy is iffy. And the president gives no idea of how long this new war will last, nor what it will cost. Last night, a war-weary president tried to convince a war-weary nation to go to war again. I’m not sure he succeeded. That’s my parting shot for today. I’m Bill Press.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:10:13 +0000
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