Hagel: Islamic Nation is threat to US security

Stars & Stripes reports that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is telling us what we already know; that those Islamic Nation fellows, formerly known as ISIS and ISIL, are a threat to our own national security;

“This country should not make any mistake on this, nor anyone in Congress: This is a threat to our country. This is a force that is sophisticated, it’s dynamic, it’s strong, it’s organized, it’s well-financed, it’s competent… And it is a threat to our allies all over the Middle East, it’s a threat to Europe… and it’s a threat to us,” he told troops at a town hall at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga.

He should tell us something we don’t know. So, here we are in the midst of our third deployment of troops to Iraq in twenty-four years – all because we weren’t willing to finish the job each time. This time it’s because we weren’t willing to “do something, anything” to prevent the juggernaut from Syria from making the advances to the gates of Baghdad. Simple things like supplying the Iraqis with the weapons to beat back the invaders.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that this administration was intentionally creating crises. We definitely need some leadership, the world needs some leadership – but all we get is nimnils telling us what we already know so they can appear concerned. I don’t see any leaders on the other side of the political aisle, either. It’s as if the whole western half of the world have become Europeans.

In another S&S article, Hagel tells the same crowd that we need to shift focus onto the nuclear sub force;

“I think over the years we’ve let our focus on the nuclear deterrence aspect of our national security drift a little,” Hagel told sailors, Marines and Coastguardsmen at a town hall meeting here.

“That’s somewhat understandable when we understand that for 13 years this country has been at war in long, large land-mass wars. And because of that, priority has been put on those wars, both in funding, leadership, attention. So we need to get back and pay attention here and prioritize the importance of the nuclear enterprise.”

Mostly, because this crowd is well-versed in focusing on problems that don’t exist. While ISIL was marching on Baghdad, the president was talking about “green energy” and while telling the crowd that ISIL is a threat to our own national security, Hagel wants to talk about spending more money on submarines. It would be funny if we weren’t talking about the lives of Americans here. But, you know, “what difference does it make?”

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden