I’m not sure it’s the military industrial complex that’s dragging us into this latest one. I think ISIS with the beheadings, and the reaction of our media, goaded us into doing something stupid.
Poor Obama, indeed. An award that was premature and unwarranted, which I also believed at the time — and I had voted for him just the year before. No track record,yet — just a lot of HOPE.
I’m afraid Obama has been a disappointment, even though I hadn’t believed everything he said in 2008 when I voted for him.
I was encouraged when he said he would help the Iraqis fight the Islamic State if they would form a more inclusive government. It was the sectarian policies of al-Maliki, and the the Arab states’ financial support of insurgents, that let the Islamic State grow. Now the U.S. is letting the Arabs off the hook by saying its our war. We’re going around looking for allies with conflicting agendas and acting as an enabler. When things go wrong we will get the blame and our enemies will get more recruits. I hope I’m wrong.
There are three things in life that you should never do ambivalently: get married, buy a house or go to war. Alas, we’re about to do No. 3. Should we?
President Obama clearly took this decision to lead the coalition to degrade and destroy the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, with deep ambivalence. How could he not? Our staying power is ambiguous, our enemy is barbarous, our regional allies are duplicitous, our European allies are feckless and the Iraqis and Syrians we’re trying to help are fractious. There is not a straight shooter in the bunch.
I doubt very much that in the foreseeable future any POTUS can be free of armed conflict. The MIC will ever let that come about.
I’m not sure it’s the military industrial complex that’s dragging us into this latest one. I think ISIS with the beheadings, and the reaction of our media, goaded us into doing something stupid.
Poor Obama, indeed. An award that was premature and unwarranted, which I also believed at the time — and I had voted for him just the year before. No track record,yet — just a lot of HOPE.
I’m afraid Obama has been a disappointment, even though I hadn’t believed everything he said in 2008 when I voted for him.
I was encouraged when he said he would help the Iraqis fight the Islamic State if they would form a more inclusive government. It was the sectarian policies of al-Maliki, and the the Arab states’ financial support of insurgents, that let the Islamic State grow. Now the U.S. is letting the Arabs off the hook by saying its our war. We’re going around looking for allies with conflicting agendas and acting as an enabler. When things go wrong we will get the blame and our enemies will get more recruits. I hope I’m wrong.
I loved these lines by Thomas Friedman:
So what possibly go wrong?
Cartoon lady wondered “Why” I wondered too.
I must say, I didn’t understand it at the time, except that it was wishful thinking.