We have seen accusations of this kind before. Given the Obama Administration’s thorough politicization of so much of government that was not politicized before, it is not remotely implausible. “US Military May Have ‘Cooked’ ISIL Intel, Exaggerating Own Success,” Sputnik News, November 22, 2015: Whistleblowers accused the US military of manipulating intelligence data on its […]
50 intel analysts say info on Islamic State cooked to give illusion of victory
“The fact that so many people complained suggests there are deep-rooted, systemic problems in how the U.S. military command charged with the war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State assesses intelligence.” Indeed. It shows that it doesn’t assess intelligence at all. It shows that it isn’t really interested in fighting or defeating the Islamic State. It […]
Pentagon not targeting Islamic State training camps
“If we know the location of these camps, and the president wants to destroy ISIS, why are the camps still functioning?” Excellent question. And no answer was forthcoming. Why not? Is it because there could be no possible explanation for this that makes sense in terms of American national security and that of the free […]
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Obama: “Ideologies Are Not Defeated with Guns”
Or with words, or with anything, apparently. My latest in FrontPage: Speaking at the Pentagon on Monday, Barack Obama once again proclaimed that victory over the Islamic State was just around the corner. He said that the Islamic State’s “recent losses in both Syria and Iraq prove that ISIL can and will be defeated. The […]
Obama: “Ideologies are not defeated with guns”
1. Yes, they are. Cf. National Socialism. 2. The United States is not trying to defeat the Islamic State, or the global jihad in general, with “a more attractive and more compelling vision.” Instead, we supervised the installations of constitutions that enshrined Sharia as the highest law of the land in both Iraq and Afghanistan. […]
US having trouble finding moderate Syrians willing to fight the Islamic State
“The main problem thus far has been finding enough Syrian recruits untainted by extremist affiliations or disqualified by physical or other flaws.” And so currently there are under 100 men receiving this training. No one, however, is willing to examine the larger implications of this. The Pentagon is pouring money into this program anyway. “Sputtering […]
That Imaginary War Room
We have all had fantasies — have we not? — of being President or Chief of Staff, and being present, somewhere in the Pentagon, in a War Room that, we like to think, directs that campaign of self-defense against the hydra-headed Jihad. And we like to imagine, too, what might go on in that room, […]
UK’s Guardian: Islamic State’s caliph still alive, but paralyzed from spinal injury in airstrike Pentagon denies hit him
No one really knows what is going on. The Iranians are saying he is dead. “ISIS leader Baghdadi is reportedly ‘unable to move’ after a spinal injury,” by Pamela Engel, Business Insider, April 27, 2015: The head of the Islamic State is reportedly injured so badly he can barely move, Kareem Shaheen at The Guardian […]
US cities increase security over Islamic State “kill list”
Last month we had the story of the U.S. military personnel being targeted, but not the particulars of the cities targeted. They’re listed below. “ISIS releases ‘Kill List’; Seven Texas cities included,” NewsChannel10, March 24, 2015 (thanks to Pamela Geller): The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra […]
Bin Laden protege reportedly leading Islamic State after injury to caliph al-Baghdadi that Pentagon denies happened
Can we believe what the Pentagon tells us? No. So the fact that they’re saying he wasn’t injured means nothing. He may really have been injured. However, if their objective is to make Obama’s airstrikes look good, and it obviously is, then why would they say al-Baghdadi was not injured if he was? It is […]