The Patriot Post® · Read My Lips: No Boots on the Ground

Categorical statements can prove problematic. Especially for a president of the United States. Especially when they involve something over which that president has only partial, or no control. And most especially, when they involve the national security of the United States. But enough about that. Let’s hit the links.

Mr. Obama has gotten himself, all of us, and perhaps, the world into a very dangerous bind. Never mind that he’s got a Nobel Peace Prize to live up to, he claims that “the American people,” that great unitary mass to which he invariably refers, has decided that come hell or high water, they will not support another war.

Well, with ISIS growing ever stronger, hell it might well be. Judging by his words and deeds, Mr. Obama sees in “the American people” a petulance that defies reason. And leading from behind, as ever, rather than using the hefty persuasive power of the presidency to explain the emergent danger, he will simply let them have their way. Besides, his many speeches on Obamacare notwithstanding, “the American people” still don’t want it. So clearly, reason doesn’t work with that lot.

Barbarians at the gate or not, the man who took a constitutional oath to protect our nation from all enemies foreign and domestic has repeatedly told us: “We will not be sending troops back into combat in Iraq.” (June 13, 2014); “let me repeat what I’ve said in the past: American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again.” (June 14, 2013). And just to make sure we didn’t forget it while he vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard, Mr. Obama trotted out his Deputy National Security Advisor, Ben Rhodes, to reinforce the message: “What he’s ruled out is reintroducing U.S. forces into combat on the ground in Iraq.” (August 13, 2014). Got it.

In fact, as far back as 2013, Mr. Obama said: “My answer is simple: I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria,” (Sept. 2013). Yes, well. Given how complex he and his team have told us the situation is, and how rapidly it is spinning out of control, his answer turns out to have been more simplistic than simple.

Whether or not “the American people” got the message, ISIS certainly did. And taking Mr. Obama’s word for it, they have swallowed up territory and ratcheted up their barbarity with impunity. Their virtually unopposed campaign has swollen their ranks with eager jihadis from around the world and hastened their territorial conquests. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama’s clean-up crew is scrambling to explain that when he referred to ISIS as the “JV” team, he wasn’t really referring to ISIS. And when he said that he didn’t have a strategy for dealing with ISIS, he only meant, “in Syria”. He’s got it locked down in Iraq, of course. Blowing up combat vehicles one at a time from 30,000 feet. Indeed, “no drama Obama” tut, tuts the whole kerfuffle with a battle cry that puts fear into the hearts of men: “Four!”

Meanwhile, ISIS marches blitzkrieg-like through Iraq and Syria, seizing territory and murdering civilians. And while they do not speak of a thousand-year Reich, they do seek a world-wide caliphate, and would eagerly wipe out every Jew on the planet. This leaves Mr. Obama to decide whether he will be Neville Chamberlin or Winston Churchill. If the fact that he returned the bust of Churchill to the British is any indication, or the fact that he seems intent on non-war, as was Mr. Chamberlin, you should brace yourself for some dark days ahead. The beheadings of James Foley and Steven Sotloff will be only the precursor of many more to come. And it is not comforting that after saying how much Mr. Foley will be mourned, Mr. Obama hurried off to make his tee-time.

Never mind that this President of the United States is making himself look foolish. Never mind that he is making our country look foolish. And never mind that, like Bush 41, he has bumbled into his own, “Read my lips,” moment. The real danger here is that Mr. Obama will stick to his guns, so to speak.

By contrast, at the cost of losing the support of his base, President George H.W. Bush, when faced with a situation in which it seemed that raising taxes was the right thing to do, he did it. He knew he would take heat from his supporters – and he did. But the changed economic situation he faced convinced him that he had to swallow his pride and do what he believed was right for the country. Unfortunately, experience shows that Mr. Obama hasn’t much of an appetite for swallowing his pride.

We can all stipulate that war is a horrid thing, and that we certainly don’t want one. That we should do what we can to avoid it, but that if the alternative is a promised massive attack on our soil or the option to convert to Islam or see our children’s heads on pikes, our women sold into slavery and our men crucified, “the American people” better hope that our survival is more important to the president than is his own pride. It is terrible to realize that we will have to wait and see.

Mr. McAlpine was Dep. Asst. Secretary of Education in the Bush Administration, a Special Assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, DC and an Intelligence Analyst in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.