Obama tries to have it both ways on ISIS

By Chris Stirewalt

FILE: August 23, 2014: A Shite fighter, who has joined in the fight against Islamic State, taking part in field training in Najaf, Iraq. (REUTERS)

OBAMA TRIES TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS ON ISIS
As President Obama seeks to escalate military action against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria as part of what he says will be a lengthy not-war, he is looking for help. First from allies. Though officials have flatly refused to say who is onboard, we know now that some allies are willing to use U.S.-made warplanes with U.S.-trained pilots to conduct airstrikes. That might decrease the cost per bombing, but what the president wants are soldiers to fight, not just the U.S. trainers and covert operators he has already put on the ground. The only candidates so far are the Syrian rebels not explicitly part of the aspirant Islamist state. Not appealing allies, especially given that one of the key “moderate” groups recently cut a deal with ISIS. So that means the president needs political allies at home to authorize arming and training these folks, something neither party in Washington wants to do. Obama has offered a tendentious legal defense for the escalation, but needs stouter legal authority and, more urgently, shared political culpability.



[Against it before he was for it - Obama warned just last year that the law he says grants him the power to escalate the war needed to be scrapped or “we may be drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight, or continue to grant presidents unbound powers…”]

Don’t worry, he doesn’t mean it - Liberals are furious as they see Obama being dragged into the very kind of conflict they once excoriated Republicans for advancing under George W. Bush. The best rationale emerging on the left is that what the president is saying and doing is okay because he is being insincere in order to mollify ignorant voters. Here’s Marc Ambinder: “I also suspect that the White House does not know how to explain to the country that in order to understand what he is doing, the American people must change the way they understand basic concepts of war and peace.” Oh, is that all? Needless to say, the “Don’t worry, we’re lying” defense would be pretty hard to pull off without voters catching on. So don’t expect Democrats to start cheering for this fight.

“…we are at war with Al Qaeda and its affiliates. And in the same context if you want to use it, yes, we are at war with ISIL in that sense. But I think it’s a waste of time to focus on that…” – Secretary of State John Kerry on CBS’s “Face the Nation”

Hawks take flight - The consequence of the president and his team chasing their tails in an effort to prevent more liberals from piling on has been to rattle the only folks in Washington predisposed to support a strategy that involves arming the rebels: the ultra-hawks of the GOP and Democratic establishments. They’re mad as hell that Obama has said far more about what the war isn’t than what it is and growing increasingly unlikely to back him under these constraints. Remember, these were the lawmakers who helped build a coalition for Obama’s surge in Afghanistan and regime change in Libya based on their mistaken belief that they could force the president to stick it out. They couldn’t. He didn’t. To rebuild his reputation with the hawks, Obama will have to start walking a straighter line to war.

“It is my estimation, that after all the dust settles…I’m betting we’re up to around 5,000 [soldiers] by the end of the year [in Iraq]” – Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden on “Fox News Sunday”

REPORT: CLINTON STATE DEPARTMENT SOUGHT TO SEPARATE DAMAGING BENGHAZI DOCS
The Daily Signal: “Hillary Clinton confidants were part of an operation to “separate” damaging documents before they were turned over to the Accountability Review Board investigating security lapses surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya. According to former Deputy Assistant Secretary Raymond Maxwell, the after-hours session took place over a weekend in a basement operations-type center at State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. This is the first time Maxwell has publicly come forward with the story. At the time, Maxwell was a leader in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), which was charged with collecting emails and documents relevant to the Benghazi probe…. ‘I was not invited to that after-hours endeavor, but I heard about it and decided to check it out on a Sunday afternoon,’ says Maxwell. He didn’t know it then, but Maxwell would ultimately become one of four State Department officials singled out for discipline—he says scapegoated—then later cleared for devastating security lapses leading up to the attacks.”

NEITHER STEAK NOR SIZZLE FOR HILLARY IN IOWA
Alas, the steak-fry frenzy over Hillary Clinton’s return to Iowa delivered more fizzle than sizzle as the Democratic frontrunner delivered another non-announcement of her 2016 presidential bid. On hand with husband Bill, the former first lady ducked behind daughter Chelsea’s own expectations ( the grandma-to-be said she was checking in every five minutes) and then threw another twig in the 2016 pyre saying, “Well, it is true. I am thinking about it. But for today, that is not why I’m here. I’m here for the steak.” Right. Clinton’s visit to the critical caucus state that was not kind to her 6 years ago recalls a phenomenon that continues to plague her campaign: The more she campaigns, the less invincible she becomes. Hillary vowed to not “let another seven years go by. It’s time to write a new chapter in the American dream.”

[Clinton campaign tells Dems to eat their veggies - Daily Beast’s Ana Marie Cox looks at how the Iowa “Steak-fry Snoozefest” and how Clinton’s “coronation wants to be a movement” but lacks the zeal.]

‘What’s her vision for America?’ - Outgoing Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin was hosting the Clintons at his 37^th and final steak fry. Harkin, a liberal icon, lavishly praised the former first couple in attendance, but raised a note of caution about their convictions when he was offstage. “We’re always nervous about people moving too far to the right,” Harkin told “This Week.” Asked where Hillary “is” Harkin said “Well, I don’t know…I think this is something that will be developed and we’ll find out when she – if – when and if she decides to run.  You know, what’s her vision for America?” Oh yeah, that.

Deporter-in-chief redux? Approached by three immigration activists at the rally, 2016 Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton was questioned about President Obama’s decision to delay executive actions granting amnesty until after the midterm elections. The conversation ended with Clinton saying, “Well, I think we have to elect more Democrats.” According to BuzzFeed, activist Erika Andiola didn’t like that answer saying, “If Hillary Clinton is going to try to stand for the immigrant community she’s going to have to show she’s better than the president — a champion for immigrants and not just another deporter-in-chief.”
KELLY FILE: KEEPING HER FAITH
Miriam Ibraheem faced a death sentence in Sudan for refusing to renounce her Christian faith until global outrage forced her release. In Ibraheem’s first television interview since her release, she tells Megyn Kelly what kept her spirit going, despite the fact her young son was locked up with her, and she was forced to give birth to her second child while behind bars in horrifying conditions. Watch this gripping exclusive interview on “The Kelly File” at 9pm ET

WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE...
Now regarded as one of America’s greatest films, “Night of the Hunter,” starring Robert Mitchum as a serial killer disguised as a preacher was a flop when it debuted in 1955. But as a consequence of its status as a late-bloomer, the initial publicity shots and other trappings didn’t get much attention at the time. But Cinephilia and Beyond shares seldom-seen photos from the making of the film and even some video outtakes that let you hear director Charles Laughton at work. (And if you want to get goodies like these on a near-daily basis, follow the great Terry Teachout.)