The Generals Take on Obama

[Peter1469]

The Generals Take on Obama (https://www.commentarymagazine.com/american-society/military/iraq-afghanistan-libya-generals-take-on-obama/)

Active duty generals state that they see no grand strategy out of this Administration.



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Arguably, Barack Obama’s biggest failing is his inability to act more like a wartime commander-in-chief. He seldom if ever tries to rally public opinion toward the goal of defeating adversaries such as the Taliban and ISIS, and he generally commits the minimal number of forces to these battles under the most restrictive rules of engagement and timelines possible. This causes considerable heartburn among the troops he sends into harm’s way and their commanders.



This week, that angst has come out into the open in Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In all three theaters, military officers are protesting the administration’s actions, or lack thereof, in a way that would be big news if it had happened under a Republican like George W. Bush. These stories deserve more coverage than they are getting—a lot more:


Marine General Thomas Waldhauser, nominated to get a fourth star and take command of Africa Command, [URL="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/06/21/white-house-makes-no-sense-on-airstrikes-libya-africom-nominee.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=%2ASituation%20Report"]testified (http://plus.google.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commentarymagazine.com %2Famerican-society%2Fmilitary%2Firaq-afghanistan-libya-generals-take-on-obama%2F) before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the military has identified ISIS targets to strike in Libya but has not received White House approval to hit them. “That makes no sense, does it?” Senator Lindsey Graham asked. Waldhauser replied, “No it does not.”




At another point in his testimony, Waldhauser said, “I am not aware of any overall grand strategy at this point” in Libya. That statement is as accurate as it is damning, and helps to explain why the military hasn’t received authority for air strikes: It doesn’t make much sense to drop bombs if there is no idea of what strategy the military forces are supposed to be pursuing.

[Common]

Worthless, hillary will be a plus compared to this muslim clown

[Common]

Id like to see the real numbers how many have left since obama has been Puzzy in Chief.

Some of those Generals will start talking after hes not potus anymore.
Theres going to be alot of realities and truths the american people dont know come out
after this election

I say this seriously Hillary will be an improvement over Obama

[FindersKeepers]

As Commander-in-Chief of our military, Obama has been astronomically bad.

A lot of his problem, I think, is related to his worldview and the biases he had coming into the job. While it's true that his father was Muslim-come-atheist, Obama and his family were Christians, albeit members of a rather fringe Christian church. Yet, all one need do is read his book to find out that he has strong sympathies for the early religion of his father.

That's understandable but it played a role in Obama's moronic demands that the Muslim Brotherhood have a "seat at the decision-making table" in Egypt, which turned out to be a near-disaster, and ended up pushing our ally toward a stronger alliance with Russia. It also played a role in the disastrous overthrow of Gaddafi and the thwarted desire of Obama's to overthrow Assad.

In my opinion, Obama carries too much emotional baggage from his hippie, anti-war parents who were all tied up in those SLA-type oddities that sought to punish the so-called wealthy white oppressor and uplift the minority underachiever. He grew up with disdain toward our military, and that's bled over into his military policies.

Basically, Obama is a screw-up. I know his worshipers will not agree but, in the long run -- history will not remember Obama kindly.

[donttread]

The Generals Take on Obama (https://www.commentarymagazine.com/american-society/military/iraq-afghanistan-libya-generals-take-on-obama/)

Active duty generals state that they see no grand strategy out of this Administration.


Truthfully I can look back decades at our actions in the ME and see "no grand strategy" unless chaos , war and selling arms counts.

[Peter1469]

Truthfully I can look back decades at our actions in the ME and see "no grand strategy" unless chaos , war and selling arms counts.

You don't know what grand strategy means.

[MMC]

Id like to see the real numbers how many have left since obama has been Puzzy in Chief.

Some of those Generals will start talking after hes not potus anymore.
Theres going to be alot of realities and truths the american people dont know come out
after this election

I say this seriously Hillary will be an improvement over Obama

Lets not forget all those he has purged out. Hillary will be worse....all our enemies will know what we are doing before we know what we are doing.

[Ransom]

What? Ignoring Iraq, setting false red lines in Syria, not following up on his 30,000 troop surge in Afghanistan, the Russian reset, the unleashed hound in North Korea, the rise of ISIS, the chaos in Libya, the strained relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia, the lecturing on Brexit, the prison he's never closed..... he's got no clue what he's doing, there is no grand strategy when you're f'n winging it.

A good analogy would be donttread's colossal ignorance on these forums...... thus fancies the wing it process when posting.

[Peter1469]

The neocons' time has come and gone.

[MMC]

What? Ignoring Iraq, setting false red lines in Syria, not following up on his 30,000 troop surge in Afghanistan, the Russian reset, the unleashed hound in North Korea, the rise of ISIS, the chaos in Libya, the strained relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia, the lecturing on Brexit, the prison he's never closed..... he's got no clue what he's doing, there is no grand strategy when you're f'n winging it.

A good analogy would be donttread's colossal ignorance on these forums...... thus fancies the wing it process when posting.

Yet we will have the Lib-Tards tell us that BO is well liked overseas. That he is a popular guy. :rollseyes:

[Tahuyaman]

The neocons' time has come and gone.

I'm not so sure about that. Obama's demonstrated incompetence has given more credibility to everyone who opposes his decisions, or lack of decisions.

[Ransom]

The neocons' time has come and gone.

After each struggle, Peter.... as you well know.... our nation lost its way, our Neocons often seeing their time come... and then go..... only to come right back. The Neocon is often neglected until reality as it tends to do, slaps America right across the face. Throughout history we've become soft at times... complacent. Each conflict and lessons learned often weren't heeded, Peter.... and thus we entered every single war or conflict completely incapable of fighting it. Revolutionary, 1812, Civil, WWI, WWII, Korea...... the Neocons are ignored first..... and then called on to restore order...... and take the reins from the idiot realists and the isolationist who is lost no matter the time or topic.

[Ransom]

I'm not so sure about that. Obama's demonstrated incompetence has given more credibility to everyone who opposes his decisions, or lack of decisions.

I'm not so sure about that either!

[Peter1469]

After each struggle, Peter.... as you well know.... our nation lost its way, our Neocons often seeing their time come... and then go..... only to come right back. The Neocon is often neglected until reality as it tends to do, slaps America right across the face. Throughout history we've become soft at times... complacent. Each conflict and lessons learned often weren't heeded, Peter.... and thus we entered every single war or conflict completely incapable of fighting it. Revolutionary, 1812, Civil, WWI, WWII, Korea...... the Neocons are ignored first..... and then called on to restore order...... and take the reins from the idiot realists and the isolationist who is lost no matter the time or topic.

You continue to misuse terms of art.


In English, words have meanings.

[Tahuyaman]

I'm not so sure about that. Obama's demonstrated incompetence has given more credibility to everyone who opposes his decisions, or lack of decisions.


I'm not so sure about that either!

You're not so sure about Obama's demonstrated incompetence? Really?

[donttread]

After each struggle, Peter.... as you well know.... our nation lost its way, our Neocons often seeing their time come... and then go..... only to come right back. The Neocon is often neglected until reality as it tends to do, slaps America right across the face. Throughout history we've become soft at times... complacent. Each conflict and lessons learned often weren't heeded, Peter.... and thus we entered every single war or conflict completely incapable of fighting it. Revolutionary, 1812, Civil, WWI, WWII, Korea...... the Neocons are ignored first..... and then called on to restore order...... and take the reins from the idiot realists and the isolationist who is lost no matter the time or topic.

By "have become soft at times" do you mean having the unmitigated gaul to not be at war?