PPI President Will Marshall contributed his views to CNN following President Obama’s recent speech that addressed the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
President Obama’s speech was a characteristic exercise in foreign policy minimalism. He said just enough to convince the public he has a plan to defeat the Islamic State. But he said virtually nothing about how to win the long war against Islamist extremism that began 13 years ago tomorrow.
“There’s no doubt the president answered his critics tonight. They’ve demanded a strategy for rolling back the Islamic State; he gave them a plausible one. They’ve accused him of sounding America’s retreat from global leadership; he highlighted Washington’s catalytic role in orchestrating the world’s response to ISIS’s murderous rampage, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and the Ebola outbreak. “American leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world,” he affirmed.
“The speech seemed calculated to shore up the public’s sagging confidence in Obama’s stewardship of U.S. foreign policy, and perhaps it will boost his numbers. Donning the mantle of Commander-in-Chief, he conveyed resolve in confronting the Islamist terrorists, while at the same time he was careful not to cross his own red line against reintroducing ground troops in the Middle East. That’s a stance exquisitely calibrated to fit the public’s current mood.
“What was missing, however, was an account of where ISIS came from and how it grew so strong. The president neither defended nor offered second thoughts about his decision to disengage from Iraq and the Syrian civil war. Nor did he explain why demolishing al Qaeda has failed to turn the tide of battle against Islamist extremism, as he had hoped. About the ideology that motivates our enemies, he said nothing at all, except to deny it’s really Islamic. He devoted all of one fleeting sentence to the need for America and the international community to more effectively counter the jihadist narrative that inspires young Muslims from Europe as well as the Middle East to commit atrocities in Islam’s name.
“However politically effective speech proves to be, it was strategically vacuous. At some point, the president needs to focus on the larger war we’re embroiled in, not just the next battle.”
