Despite Obama Rhetoric, Jihadis Advance in Middle East
The Obama administration keeps trying to tell a rosy narrative about terrorism and Islamic jihad in the Middle East, but the facts keep getting in its way. Despite reports that American military and intelligence have pulled out of the country, Barack Obama continues to claim that Yemen is still a successful model for counterterrorism foreign policy. But this just in: After a brief clash with a Yemeni brigade, al-Qaida captured an airport, a seaport and an oil terminal — and that was just Thursday’s activities for the terrorist organization. So much for al-Qaida being “decimated” or “on the run.” While al-Qaida was taking victories in Yemen, Joe Biden was saying the fight against the Islamic State was turning against jihadis. “The momentum is in the right direction,” he told the National Defense University just last week. But ISIL has taken several towns around Ramadi and stands poised to capture the city itself. Ramadi is the last city in western Iraq controlled by the Iraqi Army. And this is despite the United States’ Operation “Inherent Resolve.” Charles Krauthammer observed, to put it mildly, “The administration is quickly developing a huge problem of credibility.”