Is there some dementia going on at the Pentagon…or is it just more of the Obama administration confusion, obfuscation, and intimidation of anyone who communicates truth rather than the Obama party line?
Here is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on Sunday: Gen. Martin Dempsey, speaking to reporters on board a military plane traveling to Afghanistan, said Sunday that he believes the Sunni insurgent group formerly known as ISIS is not currently plotting or planning attacks against the U.S. or Europe.
Despite threats to the contrary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff insisted the Islamic State terror group is a regional threat and said he would not recommend U.S. airstrikes in Syria until he determines that they have become a direct threat to the U.S.
But here’s General Dempsey last Thursday: On Thursday, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, also speaking at the Pentagon, said the group does pose an immediate threat to the West in the form of the hundreds of European and American fighters who have fought with the group in Iraq and Syria and could return to their home countries to attack.
Previously, Dempsey described the threat posed by the Islamic State as regional, but with the potential to become a “trans-regional and global threat.”
On Thursday, Dempsey said that to deter the group, it will require addressing “the part of the organization that resides in Syria.”
Obama administration’s rock solid dependable ISIS threat evaluation
Gen Dempsey’s views have no doubt evolved since he got the call from Obama Valerie J. Consider Obama’s own evolution as delineated in this article by Kristine Wong writing in The Hill. We have excerpted the bullet points (pardon the expression). Read the entire article for the accompanying explanation and documentation.
Obama’s evolution on ISIS threat
The Obama administration says the nation is facing a threat from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that, in the words of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, is “beyond anything we’ve seen.”
Earlier this year, however, President Obama was dismissing ISIS as a junior varsity al Qaeda. The White House on Friday suggested that assessment is now moot because the group has “gained capacity in the last several months.”
A timeline of remarks this year . . .:
- Jan. 27: Obama calls al Qaeda-inspired groups ‘jayvee’
- Feb. 7: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson calls ISIS a ‘matter of homeland security’
- May 28: Obama says al Qaeda affiliates and extremists are today’s ‘principal threat’
- June 24: Secretary of State John Kerry says officials are ‘surprised’ by ISIS’s capture of Mosul, Iraq
- July 23: State Department’s Brett McGurk calls ISIS a ‘full-blown army’ worse than al Qaeda:
- Aug. 8: Obama says US has a ‘strategic interest’ to push back ISIS
- Aug. 20: Obama calls ISIS a ‘cancer’ after the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley:
- Aug. 20: Kerry calls ISIS ‘evil’
- Aug. 21: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says ISIS is ‘beyond just a terrorist group’
God forbid there be moralistic language —
Sometimes I think it must be me. Am I not reading this stuff correctly? This one is really “over the top” in my confused state (via NewsBusters):
The beheading of American journalist James Foley by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has rightly provoked global condemnation of the insurgent group and its horrific tactics. Yet it has also led to a disturbing return of the moralistic language once used to describe Al Qaeda in the panicked days after the 9/11 attacks.
The jehadists want to kill us because of our freedoms, and that we are not Muslims, but don’t get all uppity about it
Depends what the meaning of ISIS is
Clarice Feldman often provides the underside of the story. Her most recent article tries to explain the spin momentum of the Obama Administration regarding ISIS or ISIL and even the implications of using one term vs another. Still more, Clarice suggests some intrigue as to Obama’s dithering rescue attempt of journalist Foley. All still confusing like Obama’s non-policies.
DLH
