Obama's ISIS failure

The leader of the free world looks remarkably petty, self-interested, and out of his league at a moment when the West needs a display of leadership and courage

Too slow to respond.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

President Obama, like so many of us, was caught unprepared for ISIS's devastating attack on Paris. But unlike the rest of us, the leader of the free world was also caught unprepared a few days later, this time for the scrutiny of his record on the fight against the terrorist quasi-state. That 1-2 combination made the American commander-in-chief look remarkably petty, self-interested, and out of his league at a moment when the West needed a display of leadership and courage.

From the initial emergence of ISIS, President Obama has found himself consistently behind the curve. As the group began seizing territory in western Iraq in late 2013 and early 2014, Obama scoffed at the idea that ISIS represented a threat, comparing them to "jayvees" suiting up against the Los Angeles Lakers. As the terror group spread its tentacles across Iraq and Syria, sacking Mosul and seizing Raqqa, the White House insisted that the Iraqis could handle ISIS. When ISIS released videos of "Jihadi John" butchering American journalists and other hostages in August 2014, Obama admitted that his administration had no specific policy to deal with the terrorist quasi-state. It took another few weeks for Obama to roll out his strategy that would fulfill his pledge to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS.

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Edward Morrissey

Edward Morrissey has been writing about politics since 2003 in his blog, Captain's Quarters, and now writes for HotAir.com. His columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Post, The New York Sun, the Washington Times, and other newspapers. Morrissey has a daily Internet talk show on politics and culture at Hot Air. Since 2004, Morrissey has had a weekend talk radio show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and often fills in as a guest on Salem Radio Network's nationally-syndicated shows. He lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with his wife, son and daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters. Morrissey's new book, GOING RED, will be published by Crown Forum on April 5, 2016.