The Crossing Of The Rubicon

It finally happened. After all these many months, far to many in fact, with Barack Obama standing placidly uninvolved at the foot of the bridge, he finally put on his big boy pants, and got, somewhat less than gently, pushed across his Rubicon.

It actually took a ploy, I hesitate to call it a plot, orchestrated by Admirals and Generals, both active and retired, to accomplish what should have been a "no-brainer". When ISIS sprang fully grown from the sand and ran off the pathetic Iraqi army, it was obvious to most serious observers then that things needed doing. When they took over towns and oil wells, then started wholesale killing including beheadings, even the casual observers got it.

It seems that the only one that didn't get it was our President and his tribe of sycophants. Maybe they just didn't want to get it. The only time the word Islam has left our Presidents mouth regarding the Islamic State was for him to deny they are Islamic. He is like a man who loves an evil woman. He can see no fault in Islam so deep is his infatuation. Stonings, beating women with a stick, chopping off the hands of criminals, even beheadings are ignored. "There are none so blind",etc.

So now he is in a war, against radical Islam, (sometimes I wonder how really radical) in Iraq. Some how, in my mind, I see George W. Bush sitting at the breakfast table this morning, watching Fox News and chuckling, thinking, "I told you so". But then, he is to much of a gentleman for such things.

So, Obama stands on the Rubicon's far bank. I have no doubt that his firsts thoughts are, "How can I get out of this unholy (literally) mess and retain my legacy?" Simply, he can't. To keep himself seen as anything but an abject failure, he must now stay in the fight. And if he wants to leave any kind of a positive legacy he must make amends with his military advisers and listen to them. He should stop advising the enemy of our plans. And most of all he should lose the "no boots on the ground"bull. It is puerile and limiting at a time when we cannot afford limits.

This is a real war. The leaders of ISIS are claiming, and attempting to build a Caliphate. They will accept no limits to what they will do short of defeat. What makes this war different from previous wars is that there is no specific person or territory to conquer. Kill one leader, another arises from the ashes. Take possession of territory, and their troops show up someplace else. That can be anyplace through the Middle East and most of Africa.

They already have a fifth column in the United States that is operating right under our collective noses. We allow them great latitude because we are a free and tolerant people. They use that which they hate and wish to destroy, our freedom and tolerance, against us.

We have an enemy who is willing to do anything, including dying, to take the battle to us. We all, including our President must remain engaged and strong. Not to make light of it but this is the "whack-a-mole" war. It can pop up anyplace. We need the military and the intelligence to be strong and prepared. They cannot be hampered by unrealistic world views. If a President is strong, the American people will be strong with him.