Posted on 09/19/2014 3:16:05 AM PDT by markomalley
Flashes of disagreement over how to fight the Islamic State are mounting between President Obama and U.S. military leaders, the latest sign of strain in what often has been an awkward and uneasy relationship.
Even as the administration has received congressional backing for its strategy, with the Senate voting Thursday to approve a plan to arm and train Syrian rebels, a series of military leaders have criticized the president’s approach against the Islamic State militant group.
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who served under Obama until last year, became the latest high-profile skeptic on Thursday, telling the House Intelligence Committee that a blanket prohibition on ground combat was tying the military’s hands. “Half-hearted or tentative efforts, or airstrikes alone, can backfire on us and actually strengthen our foes’ credibility,” he said. “We may not wish to reassure our enemies in advance that they will not see American boots on the ground.”
Mattis’s comments came two days after Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took the rare step of publicly suggesting that a policy already set by the commander in chief could be reconsidered.
Despite Obama’s promise that he would not deploy ground combat forces, Dempsey made clear that he didn’t want to rule out the possibility, if only to deploy small teams in limited circumstances. He also acknowledged that Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commander for the Middle East, had already recommended doing so in the case of at least one battle in Iraq but was overruled.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Obama hesitating on whether or not to invite the enemy to his "New Army Command" Bubble dance parties?
That's because Obama doesn't have a strategy to fight the so called Islamic State. Obama's strategy is to support it!
Military strategy is the job of those with relevant experience.
not anymore
...”New Army Command” Bubble dance parties..”
That’s funny.
His actions do remind me of watching my 4 grand-daughters when they play ‘princess’.
How can this child be in charges of anything?
I’m honestly starting to think that he’s mentally retarded.
Retarded, in the sense that his mind stopped maturing at around the age of twelve.
He certainly seems to act out of a seething, bitter hatred of our nation. I can’t make sense out of his actions other than he is intentionally trying to destroy the country, but the “acting out like a 5 year old” theory works here, too!
Its been a good while since most of our troops have been in combat. Issue a recall and send them back. Hoo-ya.
There is NO ONE smarter than odumbo, just ask him. Why would he accept the reasoning and experience of someone, a entire group of people, who have been trained and spent most of their careers doing, when he is sooooooooooooo much smarter than they are?
IMO, odumbo is one stupid SOB who will one day meet his match. I pray the day comes while I am still here to see it.
Obama wants us to look weak... then we’ll have no choice but to beg Iran to come in and save us.
Dislike of the military is part of the price of admission to the Democrat party. (small p intended)
Not really. Ultimately it is up to the Commander in Chief to set the objective(s). It is up to the military (and the diplomats, too) to propose paths to the CinC's objective. The CinC may have to put constraints on the proposed path, but once he accepts the path (modified or not), he owns it.
Example. During Gulf War I, it was an important part of US strategy to get the Arab countries to back the US. To do that, it was essential to keep Israel OUT OF THE WAR. To do that, US forces had to go SCUD-hunting even though they didn't want to because the SCUDs were not tactically significant, and were doing little damage to Israel. Had the generals gotten their way about the SCUDs, Israel would have entered the war and the Arabs would have backed out and maybe even switched sides. Purely military considerations sometimes have to be adjusted because of a larger strategy.
Thank you, appreciate the explanation. I guess i don’t consider him to be an effective strategist of any kind, war, political or military.
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