nicedeb:
Obama has been claiming that the US has been doing everything we can possibly do to push back against ISIS in the Middle East, yet we haven’t been arming the Kurds adequately, nor have we been helping Jordan as well as we should:
King Abdullah of Jordan wants US lawmakers to speed delivery of sophisticated weaponry to fight the Islamic State after the group burned one of its military pilots to death.
Abdullah huddled with several US congressional committees on Tuesday before heading home early after the release of an Islamic State video showing Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned to death in a cage.
Abdullah huddled with several US congressional committees on Tuesday before heading home early after the release of an Islamic State video showing Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned to death in a cage.
In those closed-door sessions, Abdullah expressed frustration with the length of time it takes weapon sales to weave through the complex labyrinth that is the American federal bureaucracy.
Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters Wednesday that Abdullah asked specifically for “more sophisticated air-to-ground weaponry, ground-to-ground weaponry, weapons like anti-tank, [and] spare parts.”
Megyn Kelly had on the new head of the House Intel Committee Devin Nunes, to discuss the US response (or lack thereof) to the Islamic State.
She asked him if the US has indeed been doing everything it should be doing, as Obama claimed.
“Nothing could be further from the truth, he answered. “In fact, he isn’t even admitting who the enemy is or where the enemy’s located.”
Nunes said that ISIS has been spreading across North Africa and that there’s no plan in place to deal with that.
“It’s what I like to call strategic incoherence,” he said.
I had wondered why Obama didn’t come out and say to King Abdullah what he’s said to Israel: be proportional in your response to your Muslim enemy.
Obama didn’t have to.
He knew all he had to do was put the brakes on arming Jordan and they would have no choice but to be restrained in killing ISIS’ members.
He could cut the red tape.
Will he?
Not if he’s getting what he wants by dragging his feet.
Reluctance to arm the Kurds has had to do with concerns about unintended consequences: the fragmentation of Iraq to the benefit of Iran, and the destabilization of Turkey.
Does anyone really wonder why we haven’t provided more military aid to the Arab state sharing the single longest border with Israel? We’ve provided Jordan with economic aid, hoping to maintain peace and stability. Our grants of military assistance have been more judicious. Nor should anyone conclude that the prevailing sentiment in Jordan is pro-American, despite cooperative relations between our governments. The attitude of the Jordanian people is strongly anti-American.
Nothing in the Middle East is simple or straightforward.
I don’t recall any republican politicians calling out for military aid to Jordan until it suddenly became possible to score a political point by doing so. Their behavior is entirely predictable. All you have to do is check to see which way the wind is blowing. Effective foreign policy can’t vacillate like that. Shifts have to be made thoughtfully and cautiously, with close attention to all possible outcomes.
@Greg: I guess we’ll just have to let ISIS win, right?
And, while we’re at it, we’ll be strengthening Iran alone of all the states in the ME area.
After all, we wouldn’t want to help those Jordanians fight ISIS with, like, unarmed drones to help them ID an enemy target.
Leave it to Obama to parrot Osama who blamed the 9-11-01 attack on a 700 years old taking of Spain from Islam.
I think most Americans agree that ISIS should be destroyed. How that can be done without making things even worse is a problem that has no simple, obvious answer, however. No one should be pretending there’s an easy answer. Enhancing the military capabilities of Jordanian and Kurdish forces seems simple and obvious, but there are some very great risks involved in doing so.
I don’t think exploiting the situation for political advantage on the domestic front speaks well of the politicians who are doing it. Things are difficult and dangerous enough already. They need to get their priorities in order.
Obama is expected to formally ask Congress to authorize the use of military force against the Islamic State terror group.
Obama has previously argued that a new authorization isn’t legally necessary.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that the administration is dedicated to getting a new authorization with bipartisian support.
He declined to comment on specific provisions, including how long the authorization will last, what geographical areas it will cover and whether it will allow for the possibility of ground troops.
Earnest said those details were still being worked out.
Pelosi said talks with the administration are focusing on an authorization time frame of three years.
Pelosi also said that the U.S. should “move quickly” to steer military aid to Jordan, which has begun a stepped-up campaign against the militants.
Schiff the ranking Dem of the House intelligence panel, has already introduced legislation rather than wait for Obama’s version.
His bill would authorize the use of force against ISIS in Iraq and Syria for three years, but prohibit the use of ground forces in a combat mission in either nation.
He has said if the president later decided to deploy ground troops, he could return to Congress to ask for new authority.
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This is interesting.
Does the USA have much left in the bomb/bullet/gun/tank stockpile department?
Will our Navy be heading into proximity to the fight for more support?
According to this article, dated December 22, positioning materials for an offensive against ISIS has been underway since last June: U.S. Stockpiling Fighting Vehicles Near Iraq Ahead of Anti-ISIS Offensive:
Around that same time, there was this: The U.S. Military Just Doubled Its Purchases of Tomahawk Missiles.
That’s all very suggestive, taken with Obama’s request for increased defense funding.