Talk about head in the sand.
The news has been littered with stories about ISIS surging into power all across Iraq and Syria.
First, they took the key Iraqi city of Ramadi–the capital of Iraq’s largest province.
Obama lazily called it a “tactical setback,” as if it was something completely inconsequential, instead of one of the largest victories for ISIS.
And then, in Syria, ISIS took the ancient city of Palmyra. Palmyra is one of the best-preserved ruined ancient cities in the world. Considering ISIS has a record of tearing historic ruins to the ground, this is an archaeological and historical disaster.
But, even worse for the people of Syria, this puts ISIS in charge of nearly half of their country–and in charge of the main road to the Syrian capital of Damascus, which runs through Palmyra.
To that, Obama said, “I don’t think we’re losing.”
Wake up, President Obama! ISIS is on the offensive–and we’re not even doing anything to stop them.
Unfortunately, Obama’s plan seems to be more of the same. Which isn’t very much. “We’re going to have to ramp up not just training,” he said, “but also commitment” of the Iraqi soldiers.
So don’t be booking that vacation to Palmyra any time soon.
Obama ended his interview with his only objectively true statement: “Look, 20 years from now, I’m still going to be around, God willing… it’s my name on this.”
