Speech starts at 9:00, Fox News is live-streaming it.
9:02 “America is safer”? Tell that to the Foley and Sotloff family.
9:03 “ISIL is NOT Islamic”. Are you kidding me? He refuses to even acknowledge they are Islamic. What the heck does he think he think the “Islamic” in “Islamic State” stands for?
“ISIL is not a state”. You allowed it to become such!
“U.S. is meeting threats with strength and resolve”. Hardly.
9:06 “America will lead broad coalition to roll back ISIL”. Airstrikes beyond protective of our own people. Go on offense. I will not hesitate to take action in Syria. Will send 475 additional forces to Iraq, but we will not get dragged into another war in Iraq.
We must strengthen the opposition in Syria. We will redouble efforts to cut off funding to ISIL and stem foreign fighters influx. We will continue to provide humanitarian aid. We cannot allow ancient communities to be driven out of their homeland [they already have been, Mr. President]…
I have the authority to do this without Congress, but I welcome consultation with Congress.
9:11 We have been successful in Yemen and Somalia with this strategy. [Oh really? Yemen and Somalia are rife with al Qaeda]…
9:12 Technology and economy is wonderful under me [hahahahaha]
[It’s creepy when you try to sound like Reagan, Mr. Obama, stop it now. When you have no idea what you are talking about and don’t believe what Reagan believed, you sound false and hollow. He even steals Reagan’s “God Bless America” tag line at the end. When you give a speech, you have to be yourself, to put your soul into it. But if you have no soul…]
He specifically stole Reagan’s “no safe haven” for terrorists. But yet, he said nothing further in the “four part strategy” that would actually be successful in defeating ISIS, he basically just said that we’ll continue airstrikes, humanitarian aid, counter terrorism, and supporting partners (like moderate Syrians?).
The most significant part? He just gave himself the right to bomb Syria.
9:37 Ted Cruz rebuttal coming up…
Obama was pushed into speaking and doing something by polls. George Bush executed the surge even though it was unpopular, because it was right.
George Bush predicted today’s problems in 2007:
Ted Cruz: Obama remarks fundamentally unserious. Have led to most of the world being on fire. What we didn’t see was a CIC combatting radical Islam to use overwhelming force to take out ISIS. Approach in Yemen and Somalia doesn’t prompt confidence, since they have been failures. What has been missing is a concrete military objective to take them out.
Obama suggests no credible way to distinguish between ISIS and al Nusra, and “Moderate” rebels, but he proposes to arm the “moderates”.
Ted Cruz: Congress has the authority to declare war. Obama doesn’t. Obama proposed multi-year military campaign, not an “exigent threat” that he could move under.