In a sharply-worded new critique, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says that President Obama’s handling of the Islamic State terrorist group has shown the country he is “incapable of bring commander-in-chief of the United States of America.”
“Mr. President, the American people are not as dimwitted as you seem to believe we are,” Mr. Jindal wrote in an opinion piece for Fox News. “We know that most Muslims have no interest in terrorism. It’s an obvious point, but for President Obama and the politically correct crowd, we do need to say it.”
Mr. Obama and members of his administration have repeatedly refused to say the country is at war with “radical Islam,” arguing that the phrase affords the terrorist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, an association with the religion it does not deserve.
Mr. Jindal, who is laying the groundwork for a possible presidential run in 2016, also writes that Mr. Obama cannot admit the problem of “Radical Islamic terrorism,” and so he cannot hope to fix it.
Mr. Jindal went on to single out and rebuke recent comments on the situation from the administration, including from Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the State Department, who said recently on MSNBC that “we cannot kill our way out of this war” and suggested a lack of opportunity for jobs could be at the root of why people are joining such groups.
“This is madness,” Mr. Jindal wrote. “Killing the enemy is exactly the way you win a war. More than any other statement, this one demonstrates in broad daylight that the president is not up to the job.”
Mr. Jindal also said Congress should amend Mr. Obama’s request for an authorization for the use of military force to remove a prohibition on ground troops. The AUMF forbids “enduring offensive ground combat operations,” but leaves the door open to limited missions.
Mr. Jindal called that section of the president’s request “a political strategy designed to appease the left in this country, which also happens to populate his entire administration.”
“The prohibition is designed by the left to be a check on the next president,” he wrote. “The mission for our military should be clear - defeat the terrorists. Instead, the president is forecasting our playbook to ISIS.”
“It’s time for our president to have the fortitude to tell the American people the truth about radical Islam and put his political base aside so we can defeat these terrorists,” he concluded later.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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