Americans overwhelmingly are in favor of a re-escalation of the war in Iraq. This is part of their view of Constitutional government, which can be summarized as follows. “Bomb them wogs!”
A Washington Post-ABC News poll this week showed that Americans overwhelmingly view the Islamic State as a serious threat to vital U.S. interests and, in a significant shift, widely support airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. Seventy-one percent of all Americans say they support airstrikes in Iraq, and 65 percent support strikes in Syria. That is more than double the level of support a year ago for launching airstrikes to punish the Syrian regime.
Will Congress challenge this? No.
Several prominent Republicans, including Sen. Robert Portman (Ohio), said they believe that Obama can launch airstrikes to combat the militants in both Iraq and Syria without seeking a congressional vote.
“The president has authorization to act now,” Portman said in a phone interview Tuesday, adding that he remained “a little confused” about an administration strategy that has been slow to develop.
[amazon asin=0990463109&template=*lrc ad (left)]“We are ‘leading from behind,’ to use the president’s words,” he said. “By not leading, we are making it more difficult and more costly.”
Making what more difficult and more costly?
Bombing wogs.
Once again, the voters, who had never heard of ISIS (aka ISIL) two months ago, are ready to bomb them into the stone age . . . or at least into 2003.
Shock and awe. This did not work in 2003. Maybe it will work now. Hope springs eternal.
We need another public opinion poll. “Where did ISIS come from?” Don’t ask. “Who is funding them?” Does it matter? “What do they believe?” Who cares? “What is their connection to Syria?” What’s Syria? “What should be done about them?” Shock and awe!
All it takes are some headlines about the threat to America, and the voters are ready to drop bombs.[amazon asin=0805090169&template=*lrc ad (right)]
Bombs will be dropped. Obama is not saying when or on whom. He is only saying this: he does not need the formal approval of Congress.
President Obama is prepared to use U.S. military airstrikes in Syria as part of an expanded campaign to defeat the Islamic State and does not believe he needs formal congressional approval to take that action, according to people who have spoken with the president in recent days.
President Obama is now discussing matters with members of the Council on Foreign Relations, always referred to as “bipartisan foreign policy experts.”
Obama discussed his plans at a dinner with a bipartisan group of foreign policy experts this week at the White House and made clear his belief that he has the authority to attack the militant Islamist group on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border to protect U.S national security, multiple people who participated in the discussion said. The move to attack in Syria would represent a remarkable escalation in strategy for Obama, who has sought during his presidency to reduce the U.S. military engagement in the Middle East.
Why now? Because the White House is losing influence. This is a serious threat to a lame-duck President. It’s turning into lame duck dynasty.
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