Waist Deep in the Big Sandy

Waist deep in the Big Sandy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Sandy?
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man’ll be over his head, we’re
Waist deep in the Big Sandy!
And the big fool says to push on!

The lyrics are adopted from the old commie Pete Seeger’s “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” because I know President Obama’s top advisers, such as commie and terrorist killer Bill Ayers, will be familiar with it as a Vietnam War protest song.

In his Wednesday evening speech, President Obama announced he was sending us back big time into the Big Sandy of Iraq, this time including Syria, to battle the evil forces which he annoyingly, like the rest of administration, still calls ISIL. Yet everyone else now calls the group ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which is more descriptive.

For most Americans, who have been badly schooled in the federalized “public” schools, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is confusing because they don’t know where, what or who the Levant is. I know where it is, but for me the word always rings of Oscar Levant, a popular pianist and comedian I grew up watching in the Sixties because my parents liked him. He probably now is best known for his part tinkling the ivories in the classic movie “An American in Paris.”

Obama naturally, and shamelessly, like Bush brought up 9/11. Just mentioning 9/11 brings up the threat of terrorist attacks on our soil as the reason for bombing unknown and unseen foreigners. The speech was given a day before the 13th anniversary of the attack. Yet even he admitted our intelligence agencies can see no credible threat to America from ISIS.

Obama spoke of the attack including a “broad coalition of partners,” which we all know means the U.S. military, the Kurds, whatever Iraqi government forces can be rounded up, and few token forces from governments bribed with foreign aid.

He said, “America, our endless blessings bestow an enduring burden.” He apparently wasn’t talking about himself. “But as Americans, we welcome our responsibility to lead.” Actually, this is just something to push off the front pages and the talk shows the charges by neocons that he’s a “do nothing” president on foreign policy. The aim is to improve his poll numbers enough before November that he lessens Democratic losses in the congressional elections. Although most polls show Democrats losing control over the Senate, the Obama bombing, combined with the usual Republican blunders, might keep Harry Reed Senate top dog.

Obama said, “From Europe to Asia — from the far reaches of Africa to war-torn capitals of the Middle East — we stand for freedom, for justice, for dignity. These are values that have guided our nation since its founding. Tonight, I ask for your support in carrying that leadership forward. I do so as a Commander-in-Chief who could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform — pilots who bravely fly in the face of danger above the Middle East, and service-members who support our partners on the ground.”

After a while, these presidents all sound alike. That could have been written by the speechwriters of the Bushes or the Clintons. And as a former constitutional law professor, Obama well knows only Congress, by declaring war, can make him a wartime Commander-in-Chief. It has not done so. But he also knows the Constitution is a dead letter.

He said, “Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not ‘Islamic.’ No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state.”

Hmmm. A lot of warmonger Christians now are cheering what will be a lot more killing of innocents by Obama.

He uses “state” in what today is a technical sense for what commonly is called “government,” something Chronicles readers will understand. But when they hear “state,” most Americans think of the 50 American states. So they are confused. Also, “state” in the acronym is a translation of  ad-Dawlah, which likely has a nuanced meaning that may not come across in translation. Which brings more confusion because the only Arabic word most Americans know is the useful alcohol.

But if we go by the usage of “state” since 1648 as a monopoly of force, then ISIS may well approach being a state. It certainly has enough stolen or captured weapons, APCs and technicals that it has taken on some functions of a state. Ironically, by using air power to degrade ISIS’ state-like weapons, returning it to its terrorist-Fourth Generation warfare roots, Obama may make it easier for ISIS to survive. And doubly ironic is that it has been the destruction of the Iraqi and Libyan states, and the near-destruction of the Syrian state, that allowed ISIS and similar forces to rise up to fill the vacuum.

Finally, although he is sending “an additional 475 service members to Iraq,” Obama insisted, “As I have said before, these American forces will not have a combat mission — we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq.” They’re like the advisers in Vietnam in 1963. America’s only combat role will be using air power.

This has been a dream since Major Alexander P. de Seversky’s 1942 book, “Victory Through Air Power.” Yet despite all the massive bombings of Germany and Japan, even dropping two nuclear bombs, it still took “boots on the ground” to conquer those countries. In the Vietnam War, even more bombs were dropped than in World War II, yet there was no victory.

“Victory Through Air Power” was made into a 1943 movie by Disney, which about the level of the president’s strategy.