The Warfighter

 

 

 

 

 

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

As we know, the Presidents we elect need to wear many hats. I am sure that each President likes some of the hats better than others. One of the most important hats any President can wear is the hat of Commander in Chief. It is a very, very important job. Keeping the nation and it's citizens safe by the use of our military is not something to be taken lightly.

Already historians are putting together the bio on our current Commander in Chief. What some are saying is simply this - he wants nothing to do with war or being a warfighter. According to the President's base, he was "stuck" with two wars that this predecessor got us into. Our current President vowed that if elected and subsequently re-elected, he would have us totally out of Iraq and Afghanistan. After all, Osama was dead, and the War on Terror was over. 

That is the script. However, our current President hates to go off script. That is what happened in Egypt when during the Arab Spring the Muslim Brotherhood turned out to be radicals, and therefore unfit to govern. This is what happened in Libya when after we helped topple Gaddafi, we watched helplessly as the country devolved into chaos and Benghazi. This is what happened in Syria when after Assad gassed his people, we drew a red line in the sand, only to watch Assad's troops march right over it. This is what happened in Crimea when after we threatened Russia with sanctions, "reset" Putin marched right in and stole a country.

We are now going to witness how our President deals with the most serious threat of his Presidency. What kind of a warfighter will he be? Is he going to go against his generals (again) when they tell him that ISIS constitutes the most CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to our country since 9/11? Is he going to go against his Secretary of Defense who was nervous about this growing cancer in Iraq and Syria, he almost wet himself on national TV? Is he going to stick with pin point bombing of a few terrorists and then write a nasty letter to their leadership?

History will judge him on he acts or reacts to the current threat level. If we returns from Martha's Vineyard and is focused exclusively on the Michael Brown funeral, we are in big trouble. However, that is where his instincts lie. As a former community organizer, today's funeral is a "red meat" issue for the President. The stuff going on in the Middle East - not so much.

Now as many know, I am not a big fan of this President. I will not go detail on why as that is just to re-plow old fields. However, he is still out President. Love him or hate him, he is our leader. We can't wait until 2016 to address the issue of ISIS. It needs to addressed now. Our President will need to do something he loathes - he must become a warfighter. Not only a mild warfighter like Clinton was - he must become a Ronald Reagan warfighter. His words must be immediately followed by actions. No rhetoric, no threats, just action.

Welcome back from vacation Mr. President. Now use your authority in what remains of the War Powers Act and show the bad guys they kicked sand in the wrong face. It is time to man up.