Perspective: Wyn Not Just Quit?

Perspective: Why Not Just Quit?

If you want to know what is not right about our country, just look at what our past two Secretaries of Deference have not done! They simply retired, and then quietly slipped off to write books. If what they are telling us in their books is true, they should have quit and made a big splash about why they were upset!

Actually what they are they telling us is that either our President is incompetent as a leader and manager or is deliberately trying to destroy the United States. We who follow events have known for six years that he could not perform as poorly as he does without being one or the other. Just consider what his foreign policy has done to the Middle East with his so-called strategy of “leading from behind”, and then try to keep from laughing out loud .... or crying. For the moment we will deal with incompetence, because if it is the latter it is either treason of high crimes and misdemeanors, which are impeachable offences.

I read Robert Gates book and watched Panetta’s interviews with Bill O’Reilly and Charlie Rose. The demeanor of Panetta in these interviews was upsetting. He is clearly scared and fearful for our country. This was clear from his words and from his body language. If this person who has served so many presidents with distinction and honor is scared, then I am really scared!!

Let’s focus on one event that tells it all, Benghazi. The question all along is what the Secretary of Defence believed about the attack on Benghazi and what did he tell the President. Panetta told Charlie Rose that he, Panetta, knew it was an attack of terrorists that very night, and he told President Obama that was the case that very night. Charlie then asked how he felt when her heard Susan Rice say on five Sunday programs five days later on September 16, 2012 that it was a video, not terrorists. He said he was not happy!

Oh for crying out loud! NOT HAPPY!!!! HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIVID AND RESIGNED AT ONCE IN PROTEST! Folks, that is what is wrong today. If Panetta had resigned in protest to the White House’s allowing Susan Rice to report such a falsehood, he might not be so fearful. Because had he blown the whistle then before the November, 2012 election, we would probably have a president who knows how to manage and lead, namely Mitt Romney.

Perspective: What to do About ISIS

President Obama ran for office on the premise that he would end the war in Iraq as soon as possible, and he withdrew all US troops in 2011. This is first time in modern history that we left no troops behind to help stabilize and revitalize a country we invaded. We still have troops in Germany, Japan and Korea. Now, ISIS, a rag tag bunch of terrorists in pick-up trucks, routed the Iraq army and took control of a chunk of Iraq the size of Maryland. Worse the Iraq army left behind substantial quantities of US supplied armament which was captured by ISIS.

Everyone knew that Obama’s plan for Iraq would fail, because we had seen this movie before. There has not been a plausible Arabian army in modern history. We’ve seen the Israeli army decimate Arabian armies time after time over the past sixty years, regardless of the country of origin, and we have seen the US rout the Iraq’s army in Dessert Storm in 100 hours, and then in 2003 our army chased the lauded Iraq Republican Guard to Baghdad in three months, and dug Saddam Hussein out of his hole in the ground a few months later.

What is especially poignant about this disaster is to recall those happy Iraqi voters in 2005, including females, waving their ink stained fingers in the air as they celebrated their first democratic vote. It is sad for us also especially after we invested thousands of lives, a trillion dollars or more in military equipment and a decade to create a democracy in Iraq.

Now, despite the miserable and unreliable performance of Arabian armies our President wants us to believe a coalition of Arabic armies will be able to destroy ISIS in three years with little if any US leadership and no support on the ground. It is obvious that our top military leaders do not believe this can be accomplished at all, let alone in three years, and neither should we.


None of the plans for the removal of ISIS are attractive, so what can realistically be done? There are only two courses, and each will take courage.

1. Send the US army back to Iraq to lead the Iraq army in a battle to destroy ISIS in Iraq. Include General Petraeus who could work with the Sunnis as he did during the surge. With the troops in place, this can be accomplished in less than six month. When this objective is accomplished, leave a US force of 20,000 troops to keep the Iraq army strong, and to reinforce their resolve to keep ISIS or any other Al Qaeda group from re-invading Iraq.

2. If we do not have the courage to do this, then we should walk away from the Middle East altogether. The US does not need any oil or gas from the Middle-East, but China definitely does and probably so does Russia. Preserving peace in the region is paramount for them if they want to protect their supplies of oil and gas. So, the US should call a meeting with the top leader of China and Putin of Russia and state clearly these principles:

• The Middle East is China and Russia’s problem

• The United States will protect its allies in the region and that includes Israel

• The US sees no need for Iran to have nuclear weapons, but we expect China and

          Russia to see that that does not happen.