WASHINGTON – How is the US war with ISIL (IS) going? Well, not so great; but not bad either, according to the Commander in Chief. Rather optimistically, President Obama declared in an interview with The Atlantic that “I don’t think we are losing”.
War with ISIL under control
And he said this after Ramadi, the main city of Anbar Provice (and a short drive from Baghdad) was captured by ISIL, while the Iraqi troops run away. Meantime, ISIL registered another gain by taking over the city of Palmyra in Syria.
According to Obama, these are temporary setbacks, not at all surprising in what he described as a long campaign that will take years. The message is: “Do not worry. We have this thing under control. We have been at it only for a few months. Do not focus on the daily news. We have put together a winning strategy. We really know what we are doing.”
The real threat is climate change
In the meantime, since the war with ISIL is going relatively well, here is what the US President is truly concerned with. In his May 20 Commencement Speech at the US Coast Guard Academy, (New London, Connecticut), Obama stated that denying climate change is a “dereliction of duty”.
So, here is America’s true strategic priority: “Stop climate change”. The war with ISIL, the first well organized, functioning terror state in modern history, is a mere side show, and we have that situation under control anyway.
But climate change is a different matter. This is the real threat to US national security. No, I am not making this up. This is what President Obama said. And these appear to be his priorities.