Obama’s ISIS Speech : Right Tone, Wrong Substance

National Review ^ | 09/11/2014 | Tom Rogan

[SeekAndFind]

When it comes to foreign policy, a presidential speech is measured by two things: strategic tone and strategic substance.

On the first count, President Obama’s ISIS address was largely successful. Centering in passionate emotion, the president outlined the moral abhorrence that defines ISIS. He listed the group’s atrocities, in contrast with American humanitarianism. The president was also wise to draw America’s attention to the gratitude of the Yazidi civilians who were saved by U.S. naval aviators. Understandably, many Americans are irritated by what they regard as the thanklessness of many military operations abroad.

But the speech was weakened by its substance. The president was indeed right to rule out cooperation with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad: Joining forces with Assad, in the face of his slaughter of over 100,000 Sunnis, would have destroyed the U.S.’s credibility with moderate rebel factions and Sunnis more generally. But at a basic level, the speech lacked clarity of intent.

President Obama began by listing his assumed counterterrorism successes. This had a raw domestic political motivation that was unbefitting of the moment. It distracted rather than reinforced his message. President Obama’s assertion that he had removed “Syria’s declared [note: declared] chemical weapons so they cannot pose a threat to the Syrian people — or the world — again” was especially problematic. That WMD deal is a disgrace that shames America. The president’s referencing of economic issues was also absurd. A speech on ISIS shouldn’t have included “our businesses are in the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our history.” The inclusion of such a statement illustrates President Obama’s obsession with his own domestic popularity. This speech should have had a single focus: destroying ISIS.

[houeto]

Is it the drug damage from too much dope smoking and snorting or is there another reason for his disconnect from reality?

It is my opinion that this vile being has demons. Real ones. Scary character indeed.

[Iron Munro]

Obama is a typical liberal - obsessed with process and not overly concerned with results.

He thinks if he spends another few hundred million taxpayer dollars he has accomplished something.

Notice in the government action reports they state “We flew X number of sorties” instead of statements like “We decimated an ISIS brigade and destroyed their ability to function.”

What are the odds that Obama will actually accomplish anything substantial against ISIS beyond having the Air Force blow up a few more of their pick-up trucks?