The Coalition of the ‘Illing (Copyright Pending)

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John Yoo September 12, 2014

2COMMENTS

 

In 2003, George Bush had his “coalition of the willing.” For his Iraq war, Barack Obama will have a “coalition of the ‘illing.”

 

Democrats attacked the Bush administration in 2003, claiming that the coalition of the willing was anything but. Now that President Obama is seeking allies for a war on ISIS in Iraq and Syria, it should be remembered that more than 35 nations contributed about 20,000 troops to the 2003 intervention in, and reconstruction of, Iraq. That group included many of the world’s leading democracies (though it lacked the faithless French and Germans).

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September 13, 2014

Somebody get these guys in the White House a map

By Ed Lasky

So called “smart power” strikes again - and shows itself to be embarrassingly dumb.

There is a great deal of focus on the Middle Easy and has been for years. One would hope our leadership would have at least the basics down.

 

Not true.

 

T. Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner reports on the latest gaffe by the best and the brightest of the Obama team

 

As the Obama White House continues to flesh out its strategy for combating the Islamic State, the terrorist group that has claimed much of Iraq and Syria, rest assured knowing that the U.S. is in the best of hands.

 

Or maybe not.

 

Consider the following statement, which was made Thursday by a senior White House official during a conference call [emphasis added]:

 

I guess I would just add one thing on the coalition question — and I think this is important to really focus on, which is to say, in discussions with governments in the region, notably the Saudis and the Jordanians,

 

http://americanthinker.com/blog/2014/09/somebody_get_these_guys_in_the_white_house_a_map.html

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Coalition of the Unwilling

by Mark Steyn
Steyn on America
September 12, 2014

 

I was overseas when Obama gave his momentous Isis address, but figured I could pretty much guess how things would go. Despite being the greatest orator of the last thousand years, he's a complete bust at selling anything but himself, as comprehensively demonstrated in his first couple of years: see his rhetorical efforts on behalf of ObamaCare, or Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley, or Chicago's Olympics bid. When it comes to war, he suffers from an additional burden: before he can persuade anybody else, he first has to persuade himself. And he can't do it. So he gave the usual listless performance of a surly actor who resents the part he's been given. It's not just the accumulation of equivocations and qualifications - the "Islamic State" is not Islamic, our war with them is not a war, there'll be no boots on the ground except the exotic footwear of a vast unspecified coalition - but something more basic: What he mainly communicates is that he doesn't mean it.

 

That's what the jihadist militias now in control of Tripoli understood about his "leading from behind". That's what Putin grasped about Obama's "red line" in Syria. And that's what any Isis member who took time out of his beheading schedule to watch the President on CNN International

 

http://www.steynonline.com/6560/coalition-of-the-unwilling

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The Australian

 

Special forces head back to Iraq as PM sends 600 troops to take on jihadis

 

THE AUSTRALIAN SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 12:00AM

Brendan Nicholson Defence Editor Canberra

 

AUSTRALIAN special forces are ready to go into action against the Islamic State terrorist group after Tony Abbott ­committed the nation to an international mission he warned would be “highly hazardous” and could last months. Australian troops are awaiting the order to support Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces battling the jihadists as part of a growing coalition of nations brought together by US President Barack Obama.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/special-forces-head-back-to-iraq-as-pm-sends-600-troops-to-take-on-jihadis/story-fn59niix-1227058402498

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Obama’s Coalition of the Uncertain

September 16, 2014 by Daniel Greenfield

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

 

According to the media the diplomatic wunderkinds of Obama Inc. have assembled a coalition that is “broader and more committed” than the one that Bush put together against Saddam Hussein.

Bush couldn’t get France and Germany on board. Obama got France.

 

Unfortunately France is also about the only country in Obama’s coalition against ISIS. At least France appears to be the only country willing to commit militarily. Possibly the UK will join it, but after parliament turned down Cameron’s air strikes on Syria the last time around, that may be unlikely.

 

Kerry claims that some Arab countries might be willing to bomb ISIS

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/obamas-coalition-of-the-uncertain/

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‘Tony Abbott’s decision to confine Australia’s role to Iraq and not Syria is crucial, and wise’

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/abbotts-limited-military-action-on-islamic-state-is-risky-but-right/story-e6frg74x-1227060704843