Rift widens between Obama, U.S. military over strategy to fight Islamic State

[carpro]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...db422e-3f5c-11e4-b03f-de718edeb92f_story.html


Rift widens between Obama, U.S. military over strategy to fight Islamic State


Flashes of disagreement over how to fight the Islamic State are mounting between President Obama and U.S. military leaders, the latest sign of strain in what often has been an awkward and uneasy relationship.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took the rare step of publicly suggesting that a policy already set by the commander in chief could be reconsidered.

Despite Obama’s promise that he would not deploy ground combat forces, Dempsey made clear that he didn’t want to rule out the possibility, if only to deploy small teams in limited circumstances. He also acknowledged that Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commander for the Middle East, had already recommended doing so in the case of at least one battle in Iraq but was overruled.

Military leaders have increasingly suggested that Obama’s political promises are restricting their ability to fight. On Wednesday, former defense secretary Robert M. Gates, still an influential figure at the Pentagon, bluntly criticized his former boss.

“There will be boots on the ground if there’s to be any hope of success in the strategy,” Gates said in an interview with CBS News, adding that “the president in effect traps himself” by repeating his mantra that he won’t send U.S. troops into combat.

 

[carpro]

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who served under Obama until last year, became the latest high-profile skeptic on Thursday, telling the House Intelligence Committee that a blanket prohibition on ground combat was tying the military’s hands. “Half-hearted or tentative efforts, or airstrikes alone, can backfire on us and actually strengthen our foes’ credibility,” he said. “We may not wish to reassure our enemies in advance that they will not see American boots on the ground.”

 

[mactx]

Indeed. This has been O's strategy from the beginning.
He is hoping they will come and freedom fight in America.
If for nothing else than to "prove" we are not the great nation everyone thinks we are.

Which has been his agenda all along, from the apology tour to never referring to terrorists as terrorists.

 

[Zaac]

If you've retired, say whatever you want. But if you're in the military and underneath the command of the Commander -in-Chief, these type of comments should not be heard publicly.

 

[InTheLight]

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, “We may not wish to reassure our enemies in advance that they will not see American boots on the ground.”

 

[carpro]

Indeed. This has been O's strategy from the beginning.
He is hoping they will come and freedom fight in America.
If for nothing else than to "prove" we are not the great nation everyone thinks we are.

Which has been his agenda all along, from the apology tour to never referring to terrorists as terrorists.

Good point!:thumbs:

 

[carpro]

At a conference in D.C. on Friday, General James Conway (the 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps) slammed Obama’s ISIS strategy with a potent dose of reality.

The Daily Caller reported on what Conway had to say:

“I don’t think the president’s plan has a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding,” retired Marine General James Conway, who served as the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, said at the Maverick PAC Conference in Washington, D.C. Friday, according to a source in attendance.

*

 

[Revmitchell]

Terrorist groups are not a state. They are a group. Isis is a group they in fact are Daesh.

 

[carpro]

This is very odd. I just want to point this out. You actually have a revolt going on with the top generals and Obama. I'm talking about tanks pulling up to the White House and so forth. These men are trying to communicate to the American people that they are military men and we cannot defeat this enemy unless we use all of our armed forces and armed services. That's number one. Number two, Obama does not view this as a military action. He keeps telling us it's not a war, it's not a war. For him, the truth is it's about politics. It's about containing this issue politically for him so he can focus on fundamentally transforming America. And this is a very serious matter to understand.

So the generals and the military see this quite differently than our very political president who really doesn't want to defeat this enemy. Or he will go to Congress, get a declaration of war, unleash hell on these cockroaches and then get out. Instead, he speaks to our military men and tells them don't worry, no combat boots on the ground. He has said it a thousand times so everyone of our enemies in every single language can understand under this so-called commander in chief he has no intention of defeating them, period.

Mark Levin

 

[church mouse guy]

We must understand that this combat action against ISIS is not a war. No sir, it is not a war.

A war is something like the war on women or the war on the elderly when people say that Social Security is insolvent. Those are two examples of wars. Others are the war against minimum wage earners and the war against illegal immigrants, etc.

But what happens in Iraq is not a war because the Bush cowboy war in Iraq was ended by a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

 

[carpro]

Red Flag news

Interestingly, more information has surfaced recently of the ongoing dispute between Pentagon officials and the Obama White House over Barack Obama’s earlier and quite vocal desire to wage war against Syria. Military leaders, while agreeing it appeared Assad had likely used chemical weapons, they were increasingly concerned with the White House’s lack of a clear goal or strategy, fearing the conflict was would be hindered by a president overly concerned with his own political standing and influence rather than the safety of American soldiers fighting an uncertain war.

 

[righteousdude2]

Obama may avoid impeachment for Benghazi .... but those he let down may not be so forgiving? If he is not willing to stand behind his fighting forces and allies, he should expect more of the same.?