Finally! One we can all agree on!
 

What ever Obama and the rest of the world are currently doing about ISIS is not working.

They are more brazen and bolder than ever. HQ in Syria nothing but a safe zone to launch attacks from.

Obama needs to retract or change his statement of disrupting and destroying them almost 2 years ago.

I'd like to read the statement. Can you give me a link or a date or a partial quote so I can find it in it's entirety and judge for myself?

Yes, the welfare case NEEDS help. Are you qualified to "judge for" yourself, if you can't even use Google?

I tried and I couldn't find it. Did you?

September 2014 is when he made the speech presenting his position on what to do about ISIS.

Never mind here it is:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014...y-destroy-isil

and please resist coming back to tell us what he really meant kinda red herring stuff.

Another promise that showed how impotent he really is. But, I am sure he can blame it on a Republican conspiracy or Bush. I am envious of all the passes he gets.

Statement by the President on ISIL

State Floor

9:01 P.M. EDT

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak to you about what the United States will do with our friends and allies to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.

As Commander-in-Chief, my highest priority is the security of the American people. Over the last several years, we have consistently taken the fight to terrorists who threaten our country. We took out Osama bin Laden and much of al Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We’ve targeted al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, and recently eliminated the top commander of its affiliate in Somalia. We’ve done so while bringing more than 140,000 American troops home from Iraq, and drawing down our forces in Afghanistan, where our combat mission will end later this year. Thanks to our military and counterterrorism professionals, America is safer.

Still, we continue to face a terrorist threat. We can’t erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm. That was the case before 9/11, and that remains true today. And that’s why we must remain vigilant as threats emerge. At this moment, the greatest threats come from the Middle East and North Africa, where radical groups exploit grievances for their own gain. And one of those groups is ISIL -- which calls itself the “Islamic State.”

Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not “Islamic.” No religion condones the killing of innocents. And the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government, nor by the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.

In a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality. They execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslave, rape, and force women into marriage. They threatened a religious minority with genocide. And in acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two American journalists -- Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff.

So ISIL poses a threat to the people of Iraq and Syria, and the broader Middle East -- including American citizens, personnel and facilities. If left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region, including to the United States. While we have not yet detected specific plotting against our homeland, ISIL leaders have threatened America and our allies. Our Intelligence Community believes that thousands of foreigners -– including Europeans and some Americans –- have joined them in Syria and Iraq. Trained and battle-hardened, these fighters could try to return to their home countries and carry out deadly attacks.

I know many Americans are concerned about these threats. Tonight, I want you to know that the United States of America is meeting them with strength and resolve. Last month, I ordered our military to take targeted action against ISIL to stop its advances. Since then, we’ve conducted more than 150 successful airstrikes in Iraq. These strikes have protected American personnel and facilities, killed ISIL fighters, destroyed weapons, and given space for Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim key territory. These strikes have also helped save the lives of thousands of innocent men, women and children.

But this is not our fight alone. American power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves, nor can we take the place of Arab partners in securing their region. And that’s why I’ve insisted that additional U.S. action depended upon Iraqis forming an inclusive government, which they have now done in recent days. So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.

Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy.

First, we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists. Working with the Iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we’re hitting ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense. Moreover, I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.

Second, we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground. In June, I deployed several hundred American servicemembers to Iraq to assess how we can best support Iraqi security forces. Now that those teams have completed their work –- and Iraq has formed a government –- we will send an additional 475 servicemembers to Iraq. As I have said before, these American forces will not have a combat mission –- we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq. But they are needed to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces with training, intelligence and equipment. We’ll also support Iraq’s efforts to stand up National Guard Units to help Sunni communities secure their own freedom from ISIL’s control.

Across the border, in Syria, we have ramped up our military assistance to the Syrian opposition. Tonight, I call on Congress again to give us additional authorities and resources to train and equip these fighters. In the fight against ISIL, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its own people -- a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost. Instead, we must strengthen the opposition as the best counterweight to extremists like ISIL, while pursuing the political solution necessary to solve Syria’s crisis once and for all.

Third, we will continue to draw on our substantial counterterrorism capabilities to prevent ISIL attacks. Working with our partners, we will redouble our efforts to cut off its funding; improve our intelligence; strengthen our defenses; counter its warped ideology; and stem the flow of foreign fighters into and out of the Middle East. And in two weeks, I will chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to further mobilize the international community around this effort.

Fourth, we will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians who have been displaced by this terrorist organization. This includes Sunni and Shia Muslims who are at grave risk, as well as tens of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities. We cannot allow these communities to be driven from their ancient homelands.

So this is our strategy. And in each of these four parts of our strategy, America will be joined by a broad coalition of partners. Already, allies are flying planes with us over Iraq; sending arms and assistance to Iraqi security forces and the Syrian opposition; sharing intelligence; and providing billions of dollars in humanitarian aid. Secretary Kerry was in Iraq today meeting with the new government and supporting their efforts to promote unity. And in the coming days he will travel across the Middle East and Europe to enlist more partners in this fight, especially Arab nations who can help mobilize Sunni communities in Iraq and Syria, to drive these terrorists from their lands. This is American leadership at its best: We stand with people who fight for their own freedom, and we rally other nations on behalf of our common security and common humanity.

My administration has also secured bipartisan support for this approach here at home. I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL, but I believe we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together. So I welcome congressional support for this effort in order to show the world that Americans are united in confronting this danger.

Now, it will take time to eradicate a cancer like ISIL. And any time we take military action, there are risks involved –- especially to the servicemen and women who carry out these missions. But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years. And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year: to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.

My fellow Americans, we live in a time of great change. Tomorrow marks 13 years since our country was attacked. Next week marks six years since our economy suffered its worst setback since the Great Depression. Yet despite these shocks, through the pain we have felt and the grueling work required to bounce back, America is better positioned today to seize the future than any other nation on Earth.

Our technology companies and universities are unmatched. Our manufacturing and auto industries are thriving. Energy independence is closer than it’s been in decades. For all the work that remains, our businesses are in the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our history. Despite all the divisions and discord within our democracy, I see the grit and determination and common goodness of the American people every single day –- and that makes me more confident than ever about our country’s future.

Abroad, American leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world. It is America that has the capacity and the will to mobilize the world against terrorists. It is America that has rallied the world against Russian aggression, and in support of the Ukrainian peoples’ right to determine their own destiny. It is America –- our scientists, our doctors, our know-how –- that can help contain and cure the outbreak of Ebola. It is America that helped remove and destroy Syria’s declared chemical weapons so that they can’t pose a threat to the Syrian people or the world again. And it is America that is helping Muslim communities around the world not just in the fight against terrorism, but in the fight for opportunity, and tolerance, and a more hopeful future.

America, our endless blessings bestow an enduring burden. But as Americans, we welcome our responsibility to lead. From Europe to Asia, from the far reaches of Africa to war-torn capitals of the Middle East, we stand for freedom, for justice, for dignity. These are values that have guided our nation since its founding.

Tonight, I ask for your support in carrying that leadership forward. I do so as a Commander-in-Chief who could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform –- pilots who bravely fly in the face of danger above the Middle East, and servicemembers who support our partners on the ground.

When we helped prevent the massacre of civilians trapped on a distant mountain, here’s what one of them said: “We owe our American friends our lives. Our children will always remember that there was someone who felt our struggle and made a long journey to protect innocent people.”

That is the difference we make in the world. And our own safety, our own security, depends upon our willingness to do what it takes to defend this nation and uphold the values that we stand for –- timeless ideals that will endure long after those who offer only hate and destruction have been vanquished from the Earth.

May God bless our troops, and may God bless the United States of America.

Sooo, how did that work out for him?

how do you know? How can you possibly measure this? Unless you are talking about totally eliminating ISIS as your benchmark how can you possibly predict or assume how much worse or better it would have become.

It does not help when you have a country (Belgium) whose police department to not talk or exchange information with their counter intelligence squad.

But let's blame Obama, it's all we know how to do.

Didn't you read what I underlined?

We can’t erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm. That was the case before 9/11, and that remains true today.


I'm not sure what you mean.

hey if Rush or Shawn did not make the statement, it isn't real.

GOP thinking or lack thereof.

Is someone blaming Obama? Everyone knows that he is inept and can't be expected to do anything other than hold his own on SNL. Maybe he is better off being in Cuba with his ideological twin.

No, I am asking Obama to step out of the way and let the men take over the responsibility of destroying the terrorists. We have experts in taking the trash out, but no one will allow them to do it. PC rules the day. Once Obama is out of the way, perhaps we can start cleaning up after him. Nope, I don't expect anything from Obama other than entertainment. He does a great real life Urkel

Now I get it. There is something we can all agree on.

As Obama predicted, quite frankly as anyone could predict,

"We can’t erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm. That was the case before 9/11, and that remains true today."


You are right. We can all agree.

Looks like I'm wrong again.

According to a new biography called Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success, Trump feels that he was “always in the military.”

In addition, he believes that his time at New York Military Academy gave him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military.”

IJ reached out to five military veterans to see what they had to say about Trump’s comments. Here’s how they reacted

5 Military Veterans React to Donald Trump’s Latest Headline-Grabbing Comment

Why don't you start a new thread if you wish to change the subject AGAIN.

I'm not sure which post is yours but I'll explain how I connected the dots.

The said we can all agree on something and it pertained to a speech obama gave 2 years ago.

I asked for a link and got the usual until someone gave me a hint.

I posted the speech and underlined what I thought was the common ground.

That's when someone said the new candidate will show us how to win the war against terrorism. At least that's what I thought he meant.

I thought he meant Trump and I was making the point that the only military experience Trump has is in boarding school. So my link and quote supports that argument. The guy has been in politics since June. How many generals are bending his ear?

The counterpoint is that Obama has no military experiences but has many advisers and knows top secrets that Trump certainly doesn't know.

How do you know that Trump is not up to speed with Top Secret information? After all, Hillary had it on the Internet where anyone with just a bit of hacking savvy could find it. :kiss:

For those few who are deicated to take an opposing side of any issue.....and a reminder to what the original post said and what I intended.

The response is about what one would expect from those who frequent this forum
No real surprises.

But for the sake of the intent:

What ever Obama and the rest of the world are currently doing about ISIS is not working.

They are more brazen and bolder than ever. HQ in Syria nothing but a safe zone to launch attacks from.

Obama needs to retract or change his statement of disrupting and destroying them almost 2 years ago.

What ever Obama and the rest of the world are currently doing is not working.
It does not take a rocket scientist; no not a scientist of any kind; just a people with a realistic expectation that something was to be done. If it was.
It is obvious around the world....IT DID NOT WORK AND IS NOT WORKING!!

More brazen and bolder than ever.
Paris and now Brussels.
Enough said!

ISIS safe zone in Syria is hands off by everybody involved in the fight against ISIS.
How much more obvious can it be?
What will it take for some real leadership to emerge and go into Syria and wipe the ISIS safe zone off the map?

Obama needs to retract or change his statement of disrupting and destroying them almost 2 years ago.
ISIS is far from disrupted and laughing at the world 18 months after these words were spoken by the suposed world leader of the strongest most powerful nation in the world.

To me and I would suggest to a majority of Americans and others around the world.......the so called leaders of the world are in fact tip toeing around dealing with ISIS. It is apparent to me and a majority of Americans that the politics are a much higher priority than dealing with ISIS as commited by Obama in September of 2014.

And for those still not allowed to join in the majority who are searching for any sentence that may sound like something more than words have been done....GOOD LUCK IN YOUR FANTASY.

SO now I have presented more targets for those who will attempt to bypass the issue....avoid addressing the issue....be happy in your thoughts and we all hope and pray that none of them or their loved ones are personally involved in a future terrorist event here in the USA! ....unless something is done about ISIS.

Yes, let's put Trump in the white house, he went to NY Military Academy. That is more than enough to run the military and our counter terrorism units.

Please, the man is a joke and terrorists should scare you away from electing this con man.

And Obama's qualifications and training to do the same was what?
Racist activist, community organizer.....:1rotfl::1rotfl:
Really?:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

You sound like a substitute teacher who lost control of her class.

I looked in the speech again. I did a word search for disrupting or destroying. What was the point of the thread?

And today " Granny " said that there is nothing we can ever do about it -- terrorism because we can`t close our borders or apparently control them either .

Are you afraid terrorists will come to the villages and start chopping heads off?

Is the brave thing to do is send 20,000 brave men and women who are not the children of congress [except for John McCain's [my hero] son and one other Congressman's son] to kill 1/3 of the worlds population?

These are real people not just boots on the ground. Man up, carry your gun if you need to but don't ask to sacrifice anyone else's children because you won't take your chances.

We have the usual off topic condition while bantering.........

Obama Not That Guy
 

It was suggested, upon seeing the attach on Brussels Tuesday, that rather than vacationing in Cuba, Obama return to the situation room preparing for a possible attack by ISIS on our soil.

Responding to that suggestion John McCain said, why bother he won't do anything anyway. Interesting enough there were stronger statements by other military pundits.

One pundit commented that the military has been so indoctrinated on fighting a politically correct war he doubted they has the will to win anymore.

These are serious allegations and a unfortunate shift in American policy. It is humane and necessary to abide by the rules of engagement but we seem to have forgotten what it takes to win a war.

War is ugly but in this case if we do not fight to win then sooner or later it will be on American soil that infidels are behead or drowned in cages. ISIS will strike America just as ISIS is striking Europe and we need the strongest leadership since World War II . Obama's not that guy

Personal Bet Regards:

And yet you enjoy the results of our "brave men and women" that have gone before you to secure a safe and free environment for you to live in, as a spoiled and ungrateful child.

No one is suggesting that ISIS is coming to the Villages to "chop off heads." I dare say that they would have their hands full, of old war Vets that would not go down easily. Some of us have fought multiple wars and would gladly pick up our guns again for the safety of our loved ones and friends. We are not yet Paris, in spite of liberals attempt to make us vulnerable.

How would you keep everyone safe in today's world?

Don't you get it? You can't. Trying only limits your rights, your freedom.

OK here we go again. I will humor you.

In September 2014 Obama said we will decimate and then destroy ISIS.

Did he do it? NO.

Has ISIS been destroyed? NO.

If not, why not? Becuase we did not have a plan to do any such thing. As it turns out as per usual, Obama feels he has addressed an issue by just talking about it and making empty promises that are appropriate for a particular audience or moment.

When was Obama's last update on how we are doing destroying ISIS?
There has not been one since 9/2014.

It does not get much simpler than above......for most.

I would concentrate on keeping our country safe first. And I would not give two cents about climate control until everything else was accomplished. This president(?) concentrates ONLY on controversial issues. And he accomplishes NOTHING.

Liberals think that nothing can be done. No wonder they are into the fictitious man made global warming fantasy. They know it is impossible to measure any failure or success, so they are pushing that and will claim success. They are totally incompetent when it comes to foreign policies and military action. Liberals are totally into control and being controlled. No motivation, and no gratitude for what those that have come before them have accomplished.

Only if you keep them safe by caging them from the evil outside. No, the answer is to destroy the evil that is limiting your freedoms.

This is even simpler. I posted the speech YOU cited. Did you read it?

Show me the quote that supports your argument.

In your view does the evil include all Muslims?

If you insist; from about one third of the way down in your post.

"...Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy...."

Not sure how anyone could have missed it!

From my previous post:
Did he do it? NO.

Has ISIS been destroyed? NO.

If not, why not? Becuase we did not have a plan to do any such thing. As it turns out as per usual, Obama feels he has addressed an issue by just talking about it and making empty promises that are appropriate for a particular audience or moment.

When was Obama's last update on how we are doing destroying ISIS?
There has not been one since 9/2014.

It does not get much simpler than above......for most.

"...Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy...."

From my previous post:
Did he do it? NO.

Has ISIS been destroyed? NO.

If not, why not?

It does not get much simpler than above......for most.[/QUOTE]
Did he give a two year timeline as you suggest?

Then STOP voting for either a D or R, they're the ones doing it to you.