Here is a perfect example illustrating why politics and war do not mix.

128 share

Extraordinarily high reader interest

Actually,  there is more than one example.

The first that comes to mind,  is the politicization of the war on terror (before it was the Iraqi War) beginning 20 minutes after GW Bush was told a second plane had crashed into the Towers.

The Democrats smelled a negative bump for Bush,  and immediately began complaining that he took too long,  in the classroom,  to react to the news of the Twin Tower attacks.  And,  they have never stopped  --  in spite of the fact that they approved of the missions in both,  Afghanistan and Iraq.

But that was then.

This is now:  Obama announced to the world,  several weeks ago,  that we had tried to rescue Foley,  Sotloff and several other hostages held by ISIS.  He wanted everyone to know that he tried a rescue.  In that announcement, he saw political gain.  In his small-minded, imaginative world,  he would make this announcement,  America would agree with the rescue attempt,  his numbers would go up,  and he,  single-handedly,  would save the Dems in the coming election.  Turns out,  his announced failure did nothing but hurt his reputation as leader.  But more critically,  it was reported this afternoon,  that ISIS has changed its tactics BECAUSE OF THE ANNOUNCED FAILURE,  and,  split up the hostages.  They did not know we had tried a rescue.  Now,  because of politics and this idiotic announcement,  rescue is impossible.

The moral of this sad tale:  When  you elect a peacenik to the presidency,  you elect a failed military leader who cannot escape the demands of politics and his own conscience as to war.  He is the "Commander and Chief" of the most effective military of all time.  He simply cannot be a pacifist and fulfill that function  . . . . .   period.

There is another resulting circumstance to Obama's war-time politics:  building a coalition will be most difficult because other nations know of Obama's duplicity when it comes to military resolve and leadership.  That "red line" turned out to be "no line."  Threats against those who killed our Benghazi personnel turned out to be empty,  vile rhetoric.  Promises to punish those who killed Foley and Sotloff are meaningless and the world knows it.  He has left one of his own in Mexico for months.  He turned Libya into a disaster area.  He deserted the doctor who pinpointed Osama's location and has left him to be tortured and to die in some prison in Northern Pakistan.  He exposed dozens of secret agents as he bragged about what he was doing in Yemen. There is no count as to how many were killed because of this bit of criminal nonsense.   His announced identification of "Navy Seal Team Six"  caused the revenge attack on a transport helicopter in Afghanistan,  12 weeks after the killing of bin Laden.   All 32 Navy Seals on board that transport,  died,  while the order was made to "stand down" as two gun ships,  flying overhead,  were prevented from saving the transport.  His abandonment of Iraq has rendered "meaningless,"  the deaths of 4500 American soldiers who died in that country.  His cut-and-run tactics in Afghanistan have resulted in the senseless deaths of more than 1,500 American soldiers.

The world is fully away of some of this,  if not all of these examples,  and has no heart for participating in a coward's war in a Muslim country.

Now you know why Bush built a coalition of 48 nations with 37 putting "boots on the ground,"  while the Obama/Kerry team has come up with only 9 nations and no boots on the ground,  as I write.