What Obama said vs. what the Islamic State heard It was a bravura performance. In a mere 14 minutes, President Barack Obama outlined a four-point “comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy” to “degrade, and ultimately destroy” a Sunni extremist force that’s been plaguing the world for a decade. In general, it was a success, if the goal was to reassure an American public outraged by the beheadings of two US journalists, and constantly bombarded by dire warnings of another 9/11 — or worse. But how will the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) evaluate the strategy? Unlike most Americans, they know the facts on the ground, and are unlikely to be swayed by rhetoric. In 2009, when unveiling his new strategy for Afghanistan, Obama made what was arguably his greatest miscalculation of that war: He announced a surge and a withdrawal in virtually the same breath. Geared toward the president’s domestic audience, news of the coming drawdown inadvertently cheered the Taliban as it undermined local Afghan confidence. So it makes sense to consider this latest speech from the point of view of Obama’s target: the Islamic State. How will its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, or his British-accented, black-masked henchmen interpret Obama’s strategy? The strategy itself is unlikely [...] newsinca/what-obama-said-vs-what-the-islamic-state-heard/
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 16:45:38 +0000
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