The New Boss

Barack Hussein Obama tried to show the world that he was serious about security in last night's speech. Obama tried to burnish his fading reputation by showing how tough he is going to be on the Islamic State. By emphasizing the "international coalition" he is forming to fight ISIL, Obama is not leading but abdicating leadership. If it is in America's interest to defeat the rising Islamic State, then as the last superpower, the United States need not wait and seek partners but should use our great strategic resources to smash the nihilist group. If the Islamic State is such a menace, Obama should not hesitate to use "boots on the ground" to wipe them out, but once again last night, Obama pledged there will be no US ground forces involved. There are domestic political considerations involved with Congressional elections soon to take place, and Obama does not want to admit he withdrew US troops prematurely from Iraq opening the door to the Islamic State. With heightened focus on terror on this September 11 anniversary, the world looked to America for robust leadership to combat jihad, but in the event, we have a President in Obama who refused even last night to acknowledge that jihad plays the lead role in the current conflict. Obama specifically said last night that the Islamic State is not about religion as no religion condones killing innocent people, but it is not up to Obama or Western leaders to define the nature of Islam. As Sunni religious leaders issue fatwas supporting the Islamic State, it is inarguable that the current wave of jihadi terror is all about religion. Only when imams universally denounce the conduct of the Islamic State will it credibly be said that this conflict is not about Islam. I had more confidence that George W. Bush was committed to defeating the forces of terror than I do in our current President who equivocates in the face of terror and refuses to even declare the true nature of our enemy when that enemy is clearly motivated by the religious fervor of Wahhab absolutism.