An American woman held by ISIS, What Horror Awaits Her?

As reported by Yahoo News, “President Barack Obama says the U.S. is doing everything in its power to try to rescue an American woman being held by Islamic State militants. A day after a Japanese journalist held by the militants was purportedly beheaded, Obama says the U.S. and its allies are deploying all available tools to identify a 26-year-old U.S. aid worker’s location. He called her captivity heartbreaking.”

“The woman was captured last year in Syria while working for aid groups. U.S. officials have asked that the woman not be identified out of fears for her safety. Obama says he has watched videos of hostages being beheaded. He says “the terrible stuff that’s happening” is part of the reason why the U.S. has to be aggressive in going after Islamic State terrorists.”

I find it unconscionable that President Obama refers to the savage and barbaric beheadings as “the terrible stuff that’s happening.” Downplaying the actions of ISIS is commonplace for the Obama administration. At what point do President Obama and his administration admit this is a serious issue and not just another episode of a bad reality show?

As former Secretary of Defense Gates stated, “President Barack Obama’s goal to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is “unrealistic“ and “unattainable” with the means he has approved so far. As Politico reports, “Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, the former Pentagon chief under both Obama and President George W. Bush said U.S. forces should not focus entirely on eradicating the terrorist group but should create an operation that contains the spread of ISIL militants and “denies them the ability to hang onto territory.”

What SecDef Gates was addressing was the attempt to ensure national security with rhetorical speeches rather than sound strategy. Last year when President Obama came out and delivered his speech regarding his ISIS strategy, those of us who understood the military knew it had no possibility of success – “not a snowball’s chance in hell.”

That evening I wrote my assessment of Obama’s ISIS speech — because it was certainly not a strategic vision. It would have been better if Obama had gone before the joint session of the U.S. Congress and made his point to the representatives of the American people.

It’s been little more than a year since the infamous “jayvee” statement when ISIS was only at a strength of 3,000.

Those who throw words out like degrade, defeat and destroy have no idea what those words actually mean — and what it will take to bring them to fruition. You cannot destroy an enemy from 30,000 feet. But leadership is about humility. And the failure of Barack Obama to say the simple words “I was wrong” means that under this president, we shall never stem the growth of ISIS.

Source: Allen West