Senator Obama peering confusedly at President Obama.(image: lonelyconservative.com) By Preston Clive "(I know)that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaida. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars." Surprise, surprise, this is no antiwar activist speaking against the plethora of protracted, goal-less wars we seem to be ever anxious to get ourselves entangled with, year after year during the Obama administration. This is president Obama himself, speaking before the Iraq war vote in 2002 and the fomenting of unwinnable, "dumb" wars. Well guess what, fellow humans? The man who romanced the entire planet of peaceful hearts, who sent their emotions and hopes soaring with visions of a humanistic and peaceful world where all of us sat hand in hand-- Muslims, Christians, and Jews-- at the table with respect and wholesome empathy--this man is now looking for full war powers to deliver us once again into the volcano of Iraq and start churning away with ground troops . . . this time against ISIS. I wonder if this man is sketching out his ideas for troop deployments on the back of the Nobel Peace Prize paperwork that he received with his medal. Because this is getting completely out of hand. I can hardly remember an equivalent scenario where a man's record in office argues so fervently against his public persona when he was running for that very office. The pre-election Obama would have torn the present day Obama a new one, making these hopeless and open ended enterprises in Iraq, and likely in the Ukraine, seem like war-mongering attempts to be the policeman of the world. Listen. I'm not made of stone. I feel horribly for all the pain and suffering--the executions, the awful torturing, the implementation of Sharia law onto the lives of people who do not believe that fervently as their ISIS "keepers." The burning, the repulsive beheadings, the Jihadi John videos, all of it. It's rotten. I believe we should, at present, call all USA personnel in from Iraq and Syria. Stay at your own extreme risk. We must call in at least all of those who are not extremely well protected, ie non diplomatic staff who do not walk around with a massive entourage, brandishing M16's and travelling in armored vehicles. Thus, if something happens to someone left out there, ie they are captured as a result of a desire to stay in the country for humanitarian efforts, the agonized response from all concerned can only be "This is awful but we warned you to get out of that territory." America cannot put out every fire that regionally burns. That is not our responsibility. It never was. Thus, I find it astounding that the candidate who ran on the biggest antiwar platform since Bobby Kennedy has turned into a bigger warhunter than George W. Bush. It's absurd. It has to stop. Frankly, the only thing that I think will get Iraqis and Muslims in general genuinely sick and tired of these jihadists and their repulsive behavior in the name of religion is for them to be taken over by them for awhile. Beheadings, burkas, whippings, stonings, and a few burnings in a modern Muslim society should take all of the romance out of the caliphate days of the Ottomans, of Haroun al Rashid, and others. The nasty reality will sink in the Muslim world whereby there will be a paradigm shift away from the silent unspoken support for jihadists like ISIS--most of that support coming from the fact that they are the only Muslims who take action against America. Once America leaves and allows that hard reality to materialize . . . perhaps a year or two under an awfully virulent form of Sharia law, then there will be socio-political velocity which will morph into military action to get rid of these people as a national threat. This is very much like Vietnam, in a way: eventually the US came to the epiphany that the "enemy" was the Vietnamese people themselves. The enemy was the very populace they thought they were there to defend. ISIS in Iraq and Syria are an outgrowth of the societies of those countries. No Western action can work, because Western action must eventually end. And while that Western action takes place, collateral damage in the form of innocent Mulsims will always occur. And create more jihadist momentum. And when that Western action does end, jihadist elements will come and fill the void. The only way to protect that void in the wake of our exit is to get the populace sufficiently angry and opposed to the idea of living under such miserable conditions. And the only way for that to occur, is for them to live under those terrible conditions. Sad but true. I sincerely hope that Congress has the wherewithal to keep American boots off the ground in Iraq and the Ukraine. We definitely can not solve the ISIS situation--even if we beat this incarnation of jihadists, they will be back tomorrow under another name. Muslim Brotherhood to Al Qaida, Al Qaida to Al Qaida in Iraq, Al Qaida in Iraq to ISIS. ISIS to...? It's a situation that must resolve itself, in Muslim parameters entirely and without western interference. And the Ukrainian situation will likely shake itself out on its own. Preston Clive The Irritated American 2/11/2015***