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State Department Spokesman Tries To Control Damage After Obama’s Latest Gaffe, But Screws Up
Yesterday, Western Journalism reported that President Obama had told journalists during a press conference at the G7 Summit in Germany that “We don’t have yet a complete strategy” when he was asked about the achievements of the U.S.-led coalition in the battle against Islamic State.
It was the second time in a year that Obama said the administration doesn’t have a strategy on Islamic State. On August 28, 2014, Obama said: “We don’t have a strategy yet, we need to make sure that we’ve got clear plans. As our strategy develops, we will consult with Congress.”
Yesterday, he said he was waiting for a finalized plan to be presented to him by the Pentagon
Today, however, the same Pentagon tried to walk back Obama’s contention that the U.S. still doesn’t have a strategy after a full year of Islamic State advances in Syria and Iraq and countless atrocities committed by the organization.
Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby said that we “absolutely” have a strategy but offered up aspirational goals rather than the plan to achieve them. Kirby appeared on Morning Joe, where he said the following:
““We do have a strategy; the president was referring to a specific plan to improve training and equipping of the Iraqi security forces.”
“The ends are very clear; we’ve said this all along, the goal is to degrade and defeat ISIL, to remove them as a threat in the region and frankly, around the world. The ways we are going to do that are through obviously airstrikes. We have to train and equip Iraqi Security Forces; this is their fight on the ground. We have to stem the flow of foreign fighters.”
A few moments later, Kirby admitted that air power alone will never be enough to destroy Islamic State.
Indeed, airpower alone will not be sufficient to reach the stated goals of the administration. As Western Journalism reported at the end of May, the Israeli Air Force bombed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon for 34 consecutive days in the summer of 2006 and flew 11,897 combat missions. That’s roughly 350 sorties a day as opposed to an average of 15 strikes a day by the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria now.
IDF artillery units fired 170,000 shells into Lebanon, more than twice the number fired during the 1973 October War; yet it was not enough to defeat Hezbollah.
Bob Woodward criticized Obama’s ISIS policy in the same program and said that the strategy of the United States as a “humble superpower” will not allow the US to defeat groups like ISIS. It will take a much more aggressive strategy, one that the President won’t adopt. He said: “Let’s face it; Obama doesn’t like war.”
House Speaker John Boehner responded to Obama’s latest gaffe with this video:
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/state-department-spokesman-tries-to-control-damage-after-obamas-latest-gaffe-but-screws-up/
