Blame Barack Obama not Donald Trump for rise of ISIS
At the Democratic Convention last month, Vice President Joseph Biden said “Donald Trump, with all his rhetoric, would literally make us less safe.” Unfortunately, it is President Barack Obama’s rhetoric and his administration’s ineptitude that has made America less safe.
Two and a half years ago, President Obama famously referred to the Islamic State (ISIS) as “a jayvee team” putting on Al Qaeda’s uniform that wouldn’t, therefore, make them as good as Al Qaeda. — Read the full quote to see just how disconnected President Obama really was from reality.
Keep in mind, Al Qaeda only had been able to execute or inspire roughly three successful attacks in Europe and America since the July of 2005 Tube bombing in London, England. President Obama’s failure to accurately gauge the brewing threat ISIS posed would have consequences across the West.
An undated photograph of a man described as Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind the Paris attacks, that was published in the Islamic State’s online magazine Dabiq. REUTERS/social media
Just four months after his remarks, a terrorist affiliated with ISIS killed four people in Brussels, Belgium.
Eleven months later, an ISIS-inspired terrorist rammed his car into people in Nantes, France — eerily foreshadowing the Nice, France, attack on July 14, 2016.
One year after President Obama’s statement, ISIS adherents attacked stores in Paris, France, and in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Nine months later, an ISIS cell killed over 100 people in Ankara, Turkey, and then pulled off the second attack in Paris in November 2015.
Weeks later, an ISIS-inspired couple attacked co-workers in San Bernardino, California, followed by two attacks in Turkey in January and March 2016. Later in March, elements of the Paris cell executed an attack in Brussels at the airport and a metro station.
Less than three months later, another ISIS-inspired terrorist massacred scores of Americans in Orlando, Florida. Just two weeks after Orlando, a small group launched an attack at the airport in Istanbul.
A couple weeks later, the July 14 Nice truck-as-weapon attack left more dead.
Ignoring the famous adage about what to do when you find yourself in a hole (hint: stop digging), President Obama has magnified how inept he is at understanding the threat from ISIS and how Americans view that threat.
He refutes Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s characterization of America’s security noting that Trump’s view “doesn’t really jibe with the experience of most people.”
He is, of course, correct that “most people” haven’t directly experienced murderous violence. “Most people” though have watched the horrific videos on social media of the attacks, read about them, and talked with others about them. People are rightly worried about their safety.
After all, in addition to the terrorist attacks noted above, five police officers were gunned down on July 7 in Dallas, Texas, by a black nationalist. Two more police officers were killed by another black nationalist on July 17 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Later in the month, gang violence led to an attack on teenagers at a club in Fort Myers, Florida.
The number of Americans murdered over the last year and a half, as Trump highlighted in his RNC acceptance speech, has jumped substantially.
In Europe, news of terrorist attacks is becoming a steady drumbeat, with four attacks in six days. Just recently, ISIS terrorists murdered an elderly Catholic priest near Normandy.
While the ISIS connection to some of the European attacks remains tenuous or unknown, in all cases the attacks were carried out by people with immigrant backgrounds.
Not to let the ugly reality of the last year-and-a-half get in the way, President Obama appears to have decided after the Republican National Convention to double-down on his criticism of Trump by claiming that Trump was helping ISIS.
“We are at war. President Obama’s denial of that reality only makes us less safe here and abroad.”
Specifically, President Obama opined that “I think the kinds of rhetoric that we’ve heard too often, from Mr. Trump and others, is ultimately helping do ISIL’s work.” Given the list of attacks above, ISIS doesn’t need Trump’s help, as President Obama’s utter failure to confront radical Islamic terrorism has allowed successful attack after successful attack to occur in Europe and America that is all the advertising ISIS needs to attract adherents and carry on its war. As they say, nothing breeds success like success.
We are at war. President Obama’s denial of that reality only makes us less safe here and abroad.
When President George W. Bush left office in January 2009, he could rightfully take comfort in the fact that America had not been successfully attacked since the September 11, 2001, attack.
It is mildly ironic that the man who spent more time as an armchair quarterback criticizing how President Bush fought the war on terror will leave office in six months with America less safe than at any time since September 11, 2001.
President Obama can try to blame Trump, but the buck stops with the occupant of the Oval Office, not with someone trying to take his place.
no, not Obama…it was Hillary, with her doctrine of American exceptionalism at the State Dept, who was was responsible for the rise of ISIS..
Well, buck stops at top , He is the president NOT Clinton. I think both are responsible for the rise of ISIS.
With all due respect, this is preposterous rhetoric. Without being so blinded sided by your narrow partisan view, I would suggest reading into descriptive analytical accounts of how Mr. Obama has handled foreign policy – and to what his aim has been.
If were talking numbers, President Bush has substantially done more harm to Americans than BO. He set the path for the rise of ISIS by engaging us in war that was defined by false pretenses. And for the sake of argument, I’ll exclude the thousands of American lives lost under his administration.
“When President George W. Bush left office in January 2009, he could rightfully take comfort in the fact that America had not been successfully attacked since the September 11, 2001, attack.”
Ok? Does he now take comfort knowing that he set the foundations for the rise of ISIS/ISIL? Of which the rise has been attributed to the so called jeopardization of American lives under Barack Obama?
On a closing note:
Although this article is clearly biased to the right, and acknowledging that OP has disdain for Mr. Obama, must I even mention the contrast between the handling of the economy?
I’m appalled at the self-congratulatory tone of BO’s team lauding his brilliance is playing “the long game” in foreign affairs- especially the long NYTimes magazine piece with his Deputy National Security Advisor. One need not defend every aspect of how Bush carried out the wars in the Middle East – though I believe historians will give him much higher grades than current conventional wisdom.
The Obama team so disdained the Iraq war that they saw no need to acknowledge the sacrifices and successes of our military – at least until their hand was forced by ISIS. As Robert Gates said of Obama’s stance on our military in Iraq, “It was never ‘his’ mission.”
And one can never really master the long game without knowing how to make use of power in the short game. When that red line was crossed in Syria he was advised by many that all he needed to do was bomb Syria’s airfields and take Assad’s air power out of the game. But he failed miserably in his response and allowed Putin to reassert Russian influence. Kerry’s wishful thinking about Russian cooperation has been utterly disappointed.
Instead of claiming transformative brilliance in foreign affairs, it would be nice if someone in the administration read Hans Morgenthau’s classic “Politics Among Nations.” Real brilliance in foreign affairs proceeds from understanding the fundamentals.
Good points. This AEI writer does nothing more than list attacks without analyzing the underlying cause. No analysis of SOFA. Even how Congress voted on the Iraq war is weak analysis. because the only reason it was even up for a vote is because of Bush’s well-documented eagerness to invade from the moment he was elected.
The columnist is giving a free card to George W. Bush and the Neo-conservative ideologues who advised him invade Iraq. I remember very clearly the French Foreign Minister to dissuade the Assembly during the UN meeting where Secretary Power was assigned with unhappy task of present the ‘evidence’ concocted by Cheney & Co. President Obama inherited a foreign policy portfolio that was already unraveling.
The idea that blame for the “rise of ISIS” can be laid at any single human’s feet is foolish. Disagree? Well, France seems to be under significant attack as well… why not just blame Francois Hollande for “the rise of ISIS” instead of Obama? Utter nonsense!
George Bush did the best he could to handle the Middle East, and failed to achieve “success”. Barrack Obama has also done his best, and failed. Our next President will do his or her best, and will fail as well. Why? Because we don’t REALLY know how to solve the problem.
Red-meat rhetoric and blame games are politically useful, but are intellectual wastes of energy. I expect better from AEI.
Why would you expect better from AEI? This is the mothership for neocon foreign policy.
This is where confidence is the highest that proper American foreign policy can solve centuries old pathologies in countries where we don’t even speak the language.
If A.E.I. has this many uninformed readers as the above posted comments demonstrate then I will unsubscribe as I am much more informed than your typical audience. What the previous posters of comments fail to acknowledge is that yes, while George Bush invaded Iraq and was forced and urged by others including McCain to implement the surge, which WORKED, he finally did listen to others and had SUCCESS in Iraq. By the time Bush ‘handed the keys’ of Iraq over to Obama, Iraq had had approx a dozen local and national FREE ELECTIONS for the first time in that nation’s history. In fact, both Obama AND Biden declared Iraq a “success story” at the time that THEY PULLED ALL THE TROOPS OUT. So if THEY ACKNOWLEDGE that it was a SUCCESS at that time, THEN WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE FAILURE THAT IT IS NOW ?????
If you’re not smart enough to figure that out, you shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
Gail,
Proceed with unsubscribing if you like.
I’m pretty sure most people here think that agreeing with you should not be a requirement for being “allowed to vote.”
Your bizarre notion that only people who agree with you should be “allowed to vote” explains why you set such a low bar for “FREE ELECTIONS” in Iraq or anywhere else.
She isn’t saying that if you don’t agree with her, you shouldn’t be allowed to vote. She is saying that if you are too stupid to realize the points she made, which did come from Obama and Biden (they did say those things), then you shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
Gail,
The surge probably brought Iraq away from the brink of complete civil war, and in that way, I suppose one could call that a “success”–at least compared to the utter catastrophe represented by the alternative.
But success to me would be a peaceful Iraq that can secure and sustain itself independently, and can cooperate with its global neighbors. That type of “success” can NEVER be achieved through the application of American force. That’s why my overall outlook for the region–despite who sits in the White House–is very gloomy.
What you don’t seem to know or understand, Gail, is that Bush signed the agreement that set the timetable for complete US withdrawal from Iraq. Obama could not override that decision without support from the Iraqi parliament. Since this was Bush’s doing, what we would like to see from you, a Bush supporter, is a little more humility.
Many biased readers these days, Obama’s foreign policy has been disastrous , war in Libya, Yeman , Syria it is a mess . And i voted for the guy wish never did.
I expect better from the AEI. This is so blindly partisan with absolutely no policy proposals. Islamic terrorism is so much more complex and nuanced than can be summed up by “Blame Obama.” If you are going to criticize Obama, point to actual policies (maybe the too-expedient withdrawal from Iraq), not just “look at all this bad stuff happening ugh Obama is the worst.” You can do better.
There are also some misleading quotes in here. Namely, “all of these crimes were committed by ‘people with immigrant backgrounds'” (whatever that means). It is important to note that there is absolutely no evidence that immigrants commit more crimes than naturally born citizens. This makes sense: Consider the incentives for why people leave their countries, either war-torn or economically struggling, or both. This is true in both the US and Germany, the country that has taken more refugees than any other European country.
Telling the the Sunni soldiers to get lost at the outset of the invasion had nothing to do with this. I smell Ted Nugent’s ass crack around here.
75% of ISIS fighters have been killed and most of its territory relinquished. The ISIS strongholds of Mosul and Raqqa will soon fall. And almost weekly we get reports of another top ISIS leader taken out by missil or drone. It sounds to me like Obama knows damn well that we are at war.
This piece is so weak that it is hard to fathom that it was written by an AEI fellow.
How do you know that 75% of ISIS fighter have been killed ??? CNN ??? or Obama ??? Your argument is weak and biased .
Thank you for this article finally some body said the truth, i am NOT republican nor democrat i am independent that voted for Obama and i agree that he made a mess in his foreign policy.
75% of isis is destroyed are you kidding me that’s what obuma and Cnn keep feeding the American people,and all out lie they are spreading like wild fire from 8 countries to now 28,please do not be fooled by obuma.just look at what is going on every week it’s something else..
If someone cannot do a job they should step aside and allow someone else to try…president Obama was too vane to understand that and be honest with himself and the American people. That’s why he begged to be reelected…the rest is history…
Reality Check: Proof U.S. Government Wanted ISIS To Emerge In Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1aDciHCejA