WTF? Quote of the Day – Obama lets others volunteer our military edition
I have no idea how else to introduce this latest Obama quote – from our erstwhile CiC – during his stop in El Salvador:
And that’s why building this international coalition has been so important because it means that the United States is not bearing all the cost. It means that we have confidence that we are not going in alone, and it is our military that is being volunteered by others to carry out missions that are important not only to us, but are important internationally. And we will accomplish that in a relatively short period of time. [emphasis added]
I can’t tell you how many ways that is just wrong. Seriously.
And if he “misspoke” or said it incorrectly, or didn’t mean it that way, then I want to see a clarification. But it appears, in the case of Libya, that what he said is precisely what happened. We got “volunteered” and he went along with it.
This is what I mean by lack of leadership. He actually thinks this is a good thing, I assume. And it is a tip of an iceberg of which we don’t want any part.
Obama has, during other press opportunities, made the point that the US has “unique capabilities” within its military that allow it to do things others can’t.
And he’s allowing others to “volunteer” it?
Oh, but don’t be too concerned, he’s rationalized it all out for you:
Now, with respect to our national interests, the American people and the United States have an interest, first of all, in making sure that where a brutal dictator is threatening his people and saying he will show no mercy and go door-to-door hunting people down, and we have the capacity under international sanction to do something about that, I think it’s in America’s international — in America’s national interest to do something about it. (emphasis added)
Really?
How so?
~McQ
So, let me see if I’ve got this right.
The Dear Golfer took a cheap shot at Bush, claiming that he went to war “unilaterally” which left the US bearing most of the costs for the war.
Yet, now he’s saying – as if it’s a GOOD THING! – that other countries can “volunteer” us to go to war.
WTF???
“Gates downplayed the prospect of military action in Libya, noting that there is no clear support from the United Nations or a consensus among U.S. allies.”
Um…
Help.
This put me over the edge, I want to see his birth certificate…
Maybe his Saudi master can volunteer to have us defeat Israel on their behalf.
“And if he “misspoke” or said it incorrectly, or didn’t mean it that way,”
Impossible for one endowed with such legendary eloquence.
“I think it’s in America’s international — in America’s national interest…”
A Freudian slip. As all good Marxists know, they have an internationalist duty to the fraternal peoples of other countries.
I think he actually did misspeak. I think he intended to say, ” means that we have confidence that we are not going in alone, and it is NOT our military that is being volunteered by others…”
He was trying to say that he didn’t want the rest of the world pushing the US military into the action while hiding behind it.
It was an inarticulate thing to say, but it’s not particularly damning.
Hmm, has the White House Press Secretary issued any sort of clarification or revision? Has the President made any other speeches since that would allow us to judge his actual meaning? I appreciate you giving the President the benefit of the doubt, but personally, I’d like to take him at his word. You know, I’m that old-fashioned kind of guy where I think people should say what they mean and mean what they say.
Sadly, Barr’s comments are by now typically and completely damning. And yes …
I think he did say what he meant and meant what he said.
Particularly since he is a top-notch lawyer with legendary eloquence.
People misspeak all the time, Justin. Bush was famous for it, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt when things didn’t come out of his mouth quite right.
I’m no fan of Obama, but if I’ll apply the same rules to him that I did to his predecessor.
That’s fine. I would just really, really like clarification that other countries either DO or DON’T have the authority to call our military into action. Last time I checked, our constitution doesn’t allow for that sort of thing. If he misspoke, fine; no big deal. But I want a correction if he did.
But even if our godling misspoke, why would he even need to address the issue? When COWBOY UNILATERALIST Bush went it alone, we sure didn’t have to worry our military was being “volunteered” by anyone. And if wonderful trans-nationalist Obama has all this support that he put together for a mission he feels is in our vital interest, why would he have to reassure us that our military wasn’t being volunteered?
???
Stupid. Stupid and dangerous.
Eff what the Erbs of the world say, I’d rather our forces be led by a cowboy than a “political steering committee”
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/03/23/rumsfeld-if-youre-wondering-who-to-thank-for-gaddafis-lack-of-nukes/
By the way Erb…….George W. Bush says “You’re Welcome”
As Rush said today…and before…the Left is always ready to go to war when there are NO American interests in play.
Replace “The Star Spangled Banner” with “The Internationale”.
And you think people forget the words to the Star Spangled Banner.
I know all the verses by heart.
I can’t sing them. I get choked up on the question about “…the land of the free, and the home of the brave…”
I can’t answer that in the affirmative anymore.
“gave proof through the night that our flag was still there”
and the line you picked – damn near every time – now I don’t bother to wipe the tears away – there
are some good things about getting older after all.
Tha-THUMP…Tha-THUMP…
That is the sound of all the EVIL BOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooosh Warmonger moonbats being FOREVER thrown under the Obamic Bus of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM…!!!
Don’t EVEN open your lying mouths again.
So now our military have been reduced to “unpaid Hessias” ,,, military for loan
Now, with respect to our national interests, the American people and the United States have an interest, first of all, in making sure that where a brutal dictator is threatening his people and saying he will show no mercy and go door-to-door hunting people down, and we have the capacity under international sanction to do something about that, I think it’s in America’s international — in America’s national interest to do something about it. (emphasis added)
>>>> So by his own words, we have to go to Darfur, Rwanda etc etc.
We’re gonna need a bigger boat
In just a few paragraphs, Pres**ent Obama threw out over 50 years of Democratic hard fought positioning in regard to “War Powers.” We’ll have to see if Democrats (and possibly Republicans) in Congress feel the same way when the Senate votes later this week.
There have got to be millions of very unhappy Democrats out there (or they will be when they find out about this).
I see Obama as a one term Pres**ent.
Nah. Your average democrat is too mindless to have a fixed opinion. The left’s messiah can do no wrong (unless it’s that he’s just too gosh-darned nice to eeeeevil Rethuglikkkans).
“War under Bush baaaadddd, war under Obama goooodddd. War under Bush baaaadddd, war under Obama goooodddd. War under Bush baaaadddd, war under Obama goooodddd.”
Along those lines, CNN ran quite a lengthy little “analysis” the other day of “the costs of criticizing Obama on Libya” or some such. They know he’s screwed up, and they were firing a warning shot: “Hey! Don’t you reichwingers try to make political hay out of this Libya thing! Do YOU want the ‘Palin treatment’? Well, do yah, punks?”
I doubt they’re as unhappy as you think. I was dead on in my assumption that 95% of the “antiwar” movement was simply useful idiots uniting in anti-Bush partisianship and of the other 5% were scum who really did back the other side.
Cool interactive map of Libya. There are oil reserves in the West. Maybe they could just split the country. Note the single highway on the coast, where all the people live, and the refineries are all there too.
So Libya is another stop on Obama’s Apology tour. We are putting other nations in charge of our military as penance for our previous imperialism and unilateralism.
Sure we have national interests in Libya. We also have National Interests in lots of places. The question is which national interests are National Interests justifying military action or war. In my opinion Libya does not, at this time, justify war.
Oh, it’s not war, randomly blowing things up in other people’s countries without declaring war hasn’t been an act of war since we took out the aspirin factory and the camels.
The Clinton Doctrine lives.
That’s the nice part of being a super power, you can shove the little guy over, stomp on his chocolate milk, take his lunch money, and walk away, victorious.
Hmmmm, that description of behavior sounds like something, geez, if I could only remember…..
Oh, right….that would be that bully thing no? The guys that can fight back, Syria, China, Iran, not so much.