My grasp of the greased pig that is the middle east is limited.  I have a limited knowledge of this issue and would never suggest otherwise.  What is troubling to me is that it becomes increasingly clear that this administration’s grasp isn’t much better.  Certainly, they have more information, but that doesn’t appear to be translating into understanding. When in doubt, declare war.

Yesterday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that U.S. forces would begin “direct action on the ground” against Isis forces.  In other words, we are going to war…again.

President Obama has promised, and continues to promise -in spite of all evidence to the contrary – that the United States will not have boots on the ground – be in combat situations- in Syria and Iraq.

And yet in his remarks before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carter said:

We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground

Carter pointed to the rescue mission with Kurdish forces, (in which a U.S. soldier was killed) as the type of combat that U.S. forces will be engaging in. Again, this is after the administration spent months denying that U.S. forces were engaging in combat or will engage in combat.

White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz on Tuesday said the administration has “no intention of long term ground combat”. He added that U.S. forces will continue to robustly train, advise and assist.

Read the rest here

This is actually good news.  The U. S. will continue to advise and train forces. Shultz must be referring to the $48 million the administration has spent training and advising local forces to fight Isis.  That program has been a rousing success producing a whopping six or seven troops. Or, perhaps Shultz is referring to the millions spent training Iraqi forces who have fled rather than fight, leaving behind approximately $50 billion worth of U.S. supplied arms and ammunition.  Or maybe we will continue to assist in the fight against Isis by NOT bombing 60 well-known training camps that, according to Defense officials, are producing 1000 Isis fighters a month.

The B.S. coming out of this administration is sickening.  What is most frightening is that this administration has declared war and has demonstrated that it is incompetent to win a war.  They are preparing to send our young men and women into a hornets nest with the ludicrous promise that there will be no long term combat. I guess our troops will engage in short term combat and then come home leaving the clean-up to who?  Iraqi’s who turn and run at the sight of Isis troops?  The Iranians?  The Arabs? The Russians, who are busy bombing anti-Syrian rebels?  The Chinese?

The United Stated just declared war on Isis.  Our troops will be put in harms way and no doubt hamstrung with ridiculous rules of engagement.  And this president will be taking selfies and polishing his Nobel peace prize.