Obama Has Learned Nothing About Being Commander in Chief

President Obama’s biggest problem as Commander in Chief is that he is not a leader. He is detached from the troops who fight our wars and they will never feel about him the way they did about George W. Bush. He is uninspiring and it is obvious that he considers the fight against Islamic extremists to be a distraction from his true mission, fundamentally transforming and rescuing America from its failed past. There was not a single moment in his speech where he spoke to the troops about their mission. He spoke about them in reverent tones, but he never articulated what we were fighting and why it really mattered. There is a reason for that, he has absolutely no rapport with them, he doesn’t understand them, and he has absolutely no clue how to lead them. Hell he really wishes he didn’t have to. Obama is a politician and that is where he feels comfortable. he even felt obligated to remind us that “ending” the Iraq War was a campaign promise of his.

So tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.

This was my pledge to the American people as a candidate for this office.

Well thank you candidate Obama, you will soon be back in your comfort zone running for re-election. Too bad you couldn’t find some time to actually command the troops in the interim.

He also managed to bring up the monetary cost of the war as one of its downsides.

We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home…..We have spent over a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas.

A guy who pissed away more than a  trillion dollars paying off his political allies ought to watch what he says. If we are willing to go to war then we shouldn’t whine about the money it costs. Hear John F. Kennedy speak.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty….

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

Let’s contrast Obama’s bloodless lecture to President Bush’s clarion call for victory when he announced the surge Obama couldn’t bring himself to mention.

The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared their intention to destroy our way of life. In the long run, the most realistic way to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful alternative to the hateful ideology of the enemy, by advancing liberty across a troubled region. It is in the interests of the United States to stand with the brave men and women who are risking their lives to claim their freedom, and to help them as they work to raise up just and hopeful societies across the Middle East…

The changes I have outlined tonight are aimed at ensuring the survival of a young democracy that is fighting for its life in a part of the world of enormous importance to American security. Let me be clear: The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are without conscience, and they will make the year ahead bloody and violent. Even if our new strategy works exactly as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue — and we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties. The question is whether our new strategy will bring us closer to success. I believe that it will.

Now Obama can’t really help the fact that he is not a leader, the world needs professors too. But that means he ought to at least learn from history. He may have sent troops to Afghanistan, and duplicated the leadership team of Gen. Petraeus and Sec. of Defense Gates. But he failed to learn from his predecessor how to lead in wartime. When Bush went to war, he went to win and the troops knew it. When Obama announced more troops for Afghanistan he also announced the date of our withdrawal and he doubled down on that gutless, feckless and failure of a policy again.

And, next July, we will begin a transition to Afghan responsibility. The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground, and our support for Afghanistan will endure. But make no mistake: this transition will begin – because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people’s.

Announcing a withdrawal does serve the interests of our enemies. That was Obama’s policy for Iraq and now Afghanistan. If we had listened to his naive counsel we would have lost in Iraq and he would not have been taking a victory war-ending lap he had nothing to do with. Let’s hope our troops can over come the politically-driven handicap he has given them in Afghanistan. Get back to bankrupting our economy Mr. President, our military will carry on without the leadership you cannot bring.