President Obama's Speech on ISIL (or ISIS, or IS, or Whatever)

Image from source, MSN

I don't have an answer of what to do in Iraq and Syria. Do you? Of course, we didn't run for president either. Can you imagine? There are no good options, and you're up against a wall of criticism no matter what choice you make. No wonder presidents tend to age so rapidly in office.

Frankly, I wish we didn't have to do anything in the Middle East. Ever. How different life would be if President Reagan hadn't reversed President Carter's energy initiatives, hadn't ripped the solar panels off the White House, hadn't plunged us right back into dependence on foreign oil, with no plan to get off it. Jimmy Carter gets a lot of crap, some deserved some not. But he should get credit for that. Ronald Reagan has been deified, which he doesn't deserve, and gets very little criticism for his very real blunders. And then, of course, there is the fact that none of this would be happening if we hadn't invaded the wrong country, and created Al Qaeda in Iraq, which became ISIL/ISIS/IS. You know who you can thank for that.

So, before you jump all over the current guy, acknowledge the giant turdburger (s) on his plate, and who helped make them. And while you're doing that, also realize that the authorization for withdrawal of US troops from Iraq was signed by George W. Bush himself, and that the government of Iraq would not agree to leaving troops behind (I'm looking at you, John McCain).

[Excerpt]
 
Obama to launch airstrikes in Syria for first time

WASHINGTON (AP) — Opening a new military front in the Middle East, President Barack Obama authorized U.S. airstrikes inside Syria for the first time Wednesday night, along with expanded strikes in Iraq as part of "a steady, relentless effort" to root out Islamic State extremists and their spreading reign of terror. . .

Read more at: MSN