Threading the Needle

President Obama has finally let the dogs out … unleashing air strikes against ISIS targets in northern Syria. I happen to believe that this is the right thing for him to do. However, this action is bound to enrage the leftist peaceniks and the rightist libertarians/isolationists. So he has a very delicate job ahead of him in justifying this belligerency. Some are already linking this to the “October surprise” that I had previously mentioned … see: October Surprise. This may be the case, but turning this opportunistic war into the Democrats’ holding onto the Senate is bound to require a bit of legerdemain.

Many in the Democrat base will feel a eerie connection to President Bush if they supposed to vote for their local Congressional candidates in November … and therefore may stay home. Whereas, America-first Republicans (mostly in the contested states) may be even more energized to throw Harry Reid’s band of outlaws out of Senate. So I don’t envy Obama in this political balancing act. Yes, his Teleprompter writers are good politicians and glib wordsmiths … but can they manipulate both these blocs and save the Democrat bacon from this Middle-East conflagration? I am now awaiting our fearless leader's TV address to the nation …

... I just heard the president’s talk. It was short, sweet, and bereft of details. But he did say that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, and Qatar had joined us in these air strikes (exactly how?) and that that one specifically-targeted group, Khorasan, an al Qaeda affiliated group, was planning an attack against a western interests (whom exactly?). He also said that this was just the start of what would be a sustained series of air attacks on ISIS (at least through election day.)

I also do commend the administration for this recently-assembled Sunni coalition, but believe that would be a lot more important if they were actually sending “boots on the ground” into this area instead of flying next to U.S. F-22s.