Tonight, Pres. Obama addressed the nation to finally outline his administration’s strategy to combat ISIS and the threat it imposes towards America and American interests abroad. His short, 15 minute speech outlined four key strategies, stopping just short of any actual real strategy. What was proposed, is a foreign policy strategy that should have already been in place. Interestingly enough, towards the end of his speech, Pres. Obama asked Americans to remember the horrific terrorist act of September 11th 2001, but left out the attack on the US Embassy in Libya that killed Ambassador Stevens and three others on September 11th 2012. This omission goes to the heart of an Obama foreign policy that again misses an opportunity to project the real strength of the United States.
The United States, with its allies, have the ability to crush and defeat ISIS, there is no doubt of this. A four point strategy with no clear “strategy” will not get the job done. As the President, he should have addressed how we will defeat ISIS, not that we will. Obama’s approach sounded vague and uncommitted and was clearly lost as he began to tout what “progress” the United States has made over the last several years.
The next few months will tell if Obama’s speech carried any actual real weight, or if it was just another good speech by a President that has made a carrier out of being an exceptional fundraiser.