Last week, President Obama asked Congress for fresh war powers authorization to take military action against the Islamic State. In a strange twist of fate, his former opponent for the presidency, Sen. John McCain, is his biggest supporter. McCain is calling restrictions on the war powers authorization “unconstitutional.”
It’s a far cry from the Obama we saw in 2008, who ran on plans to drastically de-escalate military action in Afghanistan and pull our soldiers out of the Middle East in general.
After delaying withdrawal from Afghanistan and keeping tens of thousands of troops in Iraq, this is something the American people have come to expect from him by now.
Just like his position on gay marriage, the President has evolved. So, instead of sounding like a homophobe he sounds more like a deranged, homicidal maniac intent on paving a warpath through the Arabian peninsula until every last Muslim wants to see the spectacular downfall of the U.S.
You might wonder why the President doesn’t just go ahead with his campaign against the burgeoning caliphate. Why bother with a Congress who would rather see his policies burn in the eternal fires of hell along with the homosexuals and the vegans?
McCain is in the right ballpark with the answer, but wearing the wrong jersey. The U.S. Constitution has no provisions for the commander-in-chief to wage war without the consent of the people. It’s because of this lack of constitutional authority that Obama has to grovel for his guns.
Of course, the President doesn’t admit that, and he certainly doesn’t act like he believes it. The U.S. has been fighting the IS for six months already. Apparently he forgot his manners and is now politely asking mom and dad if he can go back to playing on the other side of the pond with his rich Saudi friends.
Obama’s fake deference to Congress serves a much more important purpose. It’s a way for him to try and convince the American people that this is a worthwhile war to wage. Right now it’s working about as well as New Coke did in the ’80s.
After abandoning his entire anti-war base, Obama is trying to placate liberals with a half-baked attempt at cultural sensitivity. He refuses to acknowledge that radical Islam is the enemy of the West, calling it “an ugly lie.”
This statement stands in opposition to the facts of the war against the “Islamic” State as the intended target for the military action. The IS is an attempt to create a new Salafist-style Islamic caliphate akin to the 700 A.D. empires of the Umayyads.
The U.S. has been fighting in the Middle East since U.S. planes shot down Libyan ones in the ’80s and we haven’t stopped since then. Every time we seem to squash a threat, another seems to pop up.
It’s almost as if the innocent people who live in the Middle East are tired of being slaughtered by drones, run over by military contractors and getting gang raped by soldiers.
Maybe, just maybe, they’re turning to terrorist violence because they have no other option against a world hegemon like the U.S.
It’s time to stop pretending that there is a real threat to the U.S.’s security in the region and acknowledge that our government are corporate shills looking to protect oil interests and continue the military-industrial complex.
Get ready ladies and gentlemen! Coming soon to a political theatre near you, ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom 2: Electric Boogaloo.’
James Richards is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans. You can reach him on Twitter @JayEllRichy.