'We Don't Have A Strategy Yet' On Islamic State, Obama Says

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/08/28/344082218/we-dont-have-a-strategy-yet-on-islamic-state-obama-says


'We Don't Have A Strategy Yet' On Islamic State, Obama Says

by Krishnadev Calamur

August 28, 2014 5:59 PM ET

President Obama says the U.S. doesn't "have a strategy yet" on how to deal with Islamic State militants who now control vast swaths of territory across Iraq and Syria, but he added that the militant group was continuing to lose arms and equipment because of targeted U.S. strikes against its members in Iraq.

"I don't want to put the cart before the horse," Obama said at a White House news conference Thursday. "We don't have a strategy yet."

He was responding to a question on whether he needed congressional approval to attack Islamic State targets in Syria.

The president noted that the U.S. is continuing to carry out targeted strikes over Iraq to protect Americans there and to address the humanitarian situation on the ground. The Sunni militant group, in its brutal campaign, has carried out mass executions and targeted non-Muslims, including Christians and members of the tiny Yazidi community. Obama noted that in some areas, Iraqi government and Kurdish forces have begun to push the militants back.

"Rooting out a cancer like ISIL will not be quick or easy, but I'm confident that we can and we will, working with our allies and partners," Obama said.

ISIL refers to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the former name of the Islamic State, which is also sometimes called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Obama said he had asked U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to travel to the region to build a coalition against the militants and that he had asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to "prepare a range of options."

He later added: "The options that I'm asking for from the Joint Chiefs focuses primarily on making sure that ISIL is not overrunning Iraq."

"Our focus right now is to protect American personnel on the ground in Iraq, to protect our embassy, to protect our consulates, to make sure that critical infrastructure that could adversely affect our personnel is protected," Obama said in his opening statement.

The administration's options against the Islamic State are complicated by the fact the militant group is one of many fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. The U.S. and its allies also want Assad gone. Indeed, Obama said Thursday that "Assad has lost legitimacy."

Here we have the happy little golfer putting in his anti-Assad crap.
Assad is in Syria , how about all the other territory and the murdering action by these muslim terrorist groups bampunk you slimy lying piece of shit?
You can golf ur punk azz off and quote anti-Assad junk but try to excuse your not hitting these murdering terrorist bastards by citing it is complicated? Well, who the hell ever would have taken foreign affairs to be complicated , genius? Be the greatest genius the world has ever known like the media hype(lies) and your dumbass bots/libs claim that you are!
No shat, complicated for you that tries to cleverly help the damn muslims!
Tell ya what bamscum why not just send in your other scummy half to settle it, maybe she can tell them how to eat and raise their kids..;)
She bez a genius two, rite???:laugh::laugh::laugh:--Tyr

How about that job strategy you started on 6 years ago?
Or that fixing the economy?
Or making the world love us again?
Or stopping the ocean from rising?
Or healing race relations here ?
Or all those shovel reading projects?
All those successful accomplishments the media praised you for during your re-election!
wer bez all dat magical success now?

[SassyLady]

Our current president is shameful.

[Gaffer]

He says he doesn't have a strategy yet and the PM of Britain raises the terror alert to severe and says ISIS is more dangerous than pre 911 al qaeda. It's mind boggling.

[Gunny]

We've got a policy already alright. Appeasement and unlawful deals under the table. Turn that MEU sitting in the Gulf licking their chops loose on them. Get all 16 of those Supercobras in the air at once.

Or ... unless something's changed, there are two carriers -- one in the Med and one in the Gulf. And they got LOTS of Navy/Marine Corps FA-18s on them. Those things are evil and so are the pilots flying them. Well no, the pilots are crazy. Especially those dumbass jarhead ones. :laugh:

OR ... there are two airborne units over there. They're REAL nice guys.

OR .. if you can coax the zoomies out of their air conditioned huts in Baharain, they occupy half that place.

Anyone seeing a recurring theme here? We've got the firepower and capability to put that whole sandbox back into the Stone Age where they desperately want to live.

So we have a plan. All that stuff I mentioned isn't there without one. Trust me (don't know if I can say more than that without a visit from the NSA ;) ). But the balls left the White House in 2008.

[aboutime]

We've got a policy already alright. Appeasement and unlawful deals under the table. Turn that MEU sitting in the Gulf licking their chops loose on them. Get all 16 of those Supercobras in the air at once.

Or ... unless something's changed, there are two carriers -- one in the Med and one in the Gulf. And they got LOTS of Navy/Marine Corps FA-18s on them. Those things are evil and so are the pilots flying them. Well no, the pilots are crazy. Especially those dumbass jarhead ones. :laugh:

OR ... there are two airborne units over there. They're REAL nice guys.

OR .. if you can coax the zoomies out of their air conditioned huts in Baharain, they occupy half that place.

Anyone seeing a recurring theme here? We've got the firepower and capability to put that whole sandbox back into the Stone Age where they desperately want to live.

So we have a plan. All that stuff I mentioned isn't there without one. Trust me (don't know if I can say more than that without a visit from the NSA ;) ). But the balls left the White House in 2008.



Gunny. Totally agree with you. I'm not worried about what the NSA may think about me. Problem really is.
All of those assets you mentioned above...have to be ORDERED to do what they have been trained, and aching to do by someone pretending to be their CIC...with some BALLS, GONADS, COURAGE, INTESTINAL FORTITUDE that outweighs his WUSSINESS, and FEAR of offending someone in the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH. or his newest JV Friends in ISIS.

[Gunny]

Gunny. Totally agree with you. I'm not worried about what the NSA may think about me. Problem really is.
All of those assets you mentioned above...have to be ORDERED to do what they have been trained, and aching to do by someone pretending to be their CIC...with some BALLS, GONADS, COURAGE, INTESTINAL FORTITUDE that outweighs his WUSSINESS, and FEAR of offending someone in the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH. or his newest JV Friends in ISIS.

I usually don't care either, but I don't remember what is and isn't classified info. And they WILL hold you to that crap until the day you die. If you have a clearance above secret, you even have to sign a paper when you leave the service letting you know that they can and will come after you. That is what I meant.

In case you don't quite get my stance, I HATE Obama. With a passion. I don't discuss him. It's better for my well being and anyone's around me. "Hate" is a word I reserve for very "special" people. If he choked to death today, I could only wish Biden would slip on a banana peel and go with him. And he better not even THINK of getting in a crosswalk in front of ME coming down the street.

So it isn't that I disagree with you. He's just not worth my emotion nor sanity. His Presidency is proof to me that we don't live in a democracy and our votes don't count. If they did, Hillary would be President. He lost to her in the 2008 Democratic primaries but 2 superdelegates voted against the will of their constituents and gave the nomination to him. He lied his way into office, and has been lying ever since. He runs his mouth a lot but never really says anything.

I had to just let it go. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change ....."

[Gaffer]

Gunny I feel the same way. And I know our military already has plans and strategies in place for any and all situations, they just have to wait for the orders which we all know will not come.

If an invasion plan was needed for Britain the military could have one on his desk in an hour. It not about strategy, it's about incompetence and very likely traitorous actions. He is a brotherhood stooge after all.

[aboutime]

I usually don't care either, but I don't remember what is and isn't classified info. And they WILL hold you to that crap until the day you die. If you have a clearance above secret, you even have to sign a paper when you leave the service letting you know that they can and will come after you. That is what I meant.

In case you don't quite get my stance, I HATE Obama. With a passion. I don't discuss him. It's better for my well being and anyone's around me. "Hate" is a word I reserve for very "special" people. If he choked to death today, I could only wish Biden would slip on a banana peel and go with him. And he better not even THINK of getting in a crosswalk in front of ME coming down the street.

So it isn't that I disagree with you. He's just not worth my emotion nor sanity. His Presidency is proof to me that we don't live in a democracy and our votes don't count. If they did, Hillary would be President. He lost to her in the 2008 Democratic primaries but 2 superdelegates voted against the will of their constituents and gave the nomination to him. He lied his way into office, and has been lying ever since. He runs his mouth a lot but never really says anything.

I had to just let it go. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change ....."



Gunny. For 30 years. As I'm sure you are aware. We spend all of those years...staying quiet, and being reminded to Hush Up about almost everything.
As for security clearances. As a Radioman. I had access to a lot of classified information. None of which I remember, since it has been more than 19 years since I last stood duty in a Comm center.
Yes. I agree. We must never divulge information. But today. Most of what I MIGHT have seen, read, or heard has long been forgotten, or become useless with progress, and the new, high-tech world.
As for speaking about the guy you claim to hate.
I refuse to hate him. That would make me like him in too many ways.
But, as a retired Veteran. I proudly can now tell everyone how much I dislike, distrust, and refuse to identify him as MY CIC.

[Gunny]

Gunny. For 30 years. As I'm sure you are aware. We spend all of those years...staying quiet, and being reminded to Hush Up about almost everything.
As for security clearances. As a Radioman. I had access to a lot of classified information. None of which I remember, since it has been more than 19 years since I last stood duty in a Comm center.
Yes. I agree. We must never divulge information. But today. Most of what I MIGHT have seen, read, or heard has long been forgotten, or become useless with progress, and the new, high-tech world.
As for speaking about the guy you claim to hate.
I refuse to hate him. That would make me like him in too many ways.
But, as a retired Veteran. I proudly can now tell everyone how much I dislike, distrust, and refuse to identify him as MY CIC.

Maybe. From what I see, they haven't changed strategy in regard to the ME. In that case, I know a LOT. And since I don't remember which is classified and which is not, I'll just keep my mouth shut on the topic. :)

Obama is the CinC of this Nation, whether or not we like it. But let's be real. Most of us were sitting here admiring Putin and wishing he was our President.:laugh: On the real level, we -- those of us that are our age -- were raised to kill commies. And we're loving it while one is kicking the sh*t out of our President? If THAT doesn't say anything, I don't know what does.

Do the morons on the left get it? No. Does the GOP get it? No. Both are too busy trying to figure out how to get the Hispanic vote in 2016. Both parties suck. The left are Nazi's and the right are pansies. Try to get a third party in there though and you'll see some bipartisanship. It's all an illusion -- smoke n mirrors. They'll crush anything that tries to upset their little applecart.

Look at what happens. We get all this hype like something is actually going on. The day after election it's back to business as usual. One side will say the sky is blue. The other side will say it's azure. They'll run that crap into ground, distracting the sheeple from keeping their eyes on the prize. Simple strategy. Simple tactics. And it works. The sheeple would rather be told what to do than think. But BOTH sides are equally as guilty. Democrats - Republicant's .... politicians. All they care about is keeping themselves in office.

As I said elsewhere, vote for ME. :) I guarantee you some pissed off bureaucrats.:laugh:

[Drummond]

He says he doesn't have a strategy yet and the PM of Britain raises the terror alert to severe and says ISIS is more dangerous than pre 911 al qaeda. It's mind boggling.

A small bit of news, from my side of the Pond ... the number of British people going over to places such as Syria and Iraq to fight with ISIS has been a concern here for a while, especially the threat they pose to our shores once they decide to return.

Well, by the looks of it, today, Cameron's taking some action on it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29002586


British-born jihadists in Iraq and Syria could be temporarily banned from returning to the UK under plans being considered by the government.

The BBC understands UK nationals suspected of being involved in terror acts would be allowed to keep their British citizenship.

But they would be prevented from re-entering the UK for a period of time.

David Cameron will set out plans to counter the threat posed by Islamic State militants to MPs on Monday.

At least 500 people from the UK are thought to have gone to fight in Syria, although ministers say they do not know the exact number.

The number of people arrested in the UK for Syria-related activity stands at 69, according to a recent briefing by senior police officers.

In his statement the prime minister is also expected to announce plans to make it easier to seize the passports of would-be terrorists travelling abroad.

A government source told BBC News: "The government is considering a range of measures to keep the country safe in the face of an increased threat level from Islamist extremism.

"The areas include making it harder for potential foreign fighters to travel abroad by making it easier to remove their passports through additional temporary seizure powers at the border.

"We are also looking at stopping British citizens from re-entering the country if they are suspected of terrorist activity abroad.

"Previously, our range of powers to prevent return to the UK applied only to foreign nationals, dual nationals or naturalised citizens."

The government source confirmed "details of the package are being finalised" and would be announced by the prime minister in a Commons statement on Monday.

But former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said a temporary ban on British citizens re-entering the country may be illegal.

Trust our Lib Dems to try and disrupt the application of such a measure ...

The intended approach comes across, to me, as being a bit weak. But it's better than doing nothing.

[Gaffer]

A small bit of news, from my side of the Pond ... the number of British people going over to places such as Syria and Iraq to fight with ISIS has been a concern here for a while, especially the threat they pose to our shores once they decide to return.

Well, by the looks of it, today, Cameron's taking some action on it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29002586



Trust our Lib Dems to try and disrupt the application of such a measure ...

The intended approach comes across, to me, as being a bit weak. But it's better than doing nothing.

Thanks Drummond, I don't think your libs will really be happy until London gets nuked. They seem determined to destroy British society at any cost.