Once again, only a half a loaf...

 

 

"A new WPA is not that hard to write. It can be very short and to the point. Heck, even I could write one and still be home in time for corn flakes..."

Even though it was not reported this way, I could almost see it. He was dragged kicking and screaming into the West Wing to make the decision. The man who wanted so badly to be remembered as the "war ender" (even if it meant we lost wars), must now ask Congress for war fighting authority under a new WPA (War Powers Act).

As usual, the new WPA is covered in caveats, some of which make no sense at all. I will list what I think is wrong so far:

• Once again, saying what we will not do, rather than what we will do. Ruling out the possibility of using ground troops to fight ISIL is a huge mistake. There are a chorus of voices consisting of former flag officers as well as some former senior level Administration people who say the war against ISIL may be unwinnable without the use of ground forces.
• Limiting the WPA only to ISIL is very short sighted. There are more and more stories about the absolute atrocities Boko Haram is committing in Africa. Many innocent people are being brutalized by Boko Haram, and nobody, I mean nobody, is coming to their rescue. In fact, many of the girls who were kidnapped are still missing. All we could do to for assistance was come up with a "hashtag".  Mr. President, this new WPA should be written to fight Islamic Terrorism worldwide. Period.
• Practice saying the term Islamic Terrorists over and over again Mr. President. Your own intelligence services are now saying the flood of new recruits heading over to Syria keeps increasing. More Europeans and Americans are joining. These are not Methodists, Hindus or Mormons, these are Islamic Terrorists. Pretend you are in a 12 step program Sir, and the first step is saying the name of the threat.
• Hello? Do you see what just happened in Yemen? This is a hot mess getting hotter by the day. We have not only been chased out of Yemen and lost our embassy, the terrorists have also taken our embassy weapons. Heck, they even stole our embassy vehicles! Next potential stop for this newest group of Islamic thugs - the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. Should that happen, the ship is really going to hit the sand!
• Making it for three years instead of two years is another huge boo-boo. Why would you do that to our next President? If these terrorists keep gaining momentum, the next President will need a new WPA they day after being sworn in. He (or she) will need a new one with much more teeth. Having one year to go on this piece of milk toast will only hamper our new leader. 

I know. This is not your cup of tea. You really do hate this. At least President Clinton was truthful about how he felt about the military when he said (before he was President), "I loath the military." Mr. President, we all know you would rather be regulating our freedoms away on the internet as well as doing away with our gun rights. You would rather be granting legal status to uncounted millions of illegal aliens. You would rather keep spending money like a drunken sailor thereby leaving the nation with a $20T debt when you leave office. But no. Now you have to be the Commander-in-Chief. You have to be a war fighter. You have to do the right thing.

We still have 707 days until we get a new President. I am counting down each and every day. So are the terrorists. They will continue to make hay until the sun shines. They will do so until we get a Ronald Reagan type of President who can once again restore order in an increasingly dangerous world. Until that day comes, I will just keep counting down - 707, 706, 705....