Hold Obama and the Democrats Accountable for the Terrorist Threat

140528-obama-west-point-mn-1155_a321bf5f75359e045403b1c5436f31aaOriginally published at RedState.com

Since 1945 Republicans have not won the popular vote unless national security was the primary issue. But security issues were virtually absent from the 2008 and 2012 elections. This gave victories to Barack Obama, the most anti-military president in American history. Fortunately, the prospects for 2016 are looking marginally better because Republicans are now actually focusing on the fact that an anti-military presidency has ominous consequences for the 300 million Americans whose safety is the primary responsibility of the commander-in-chief.

That said, there is much to be desired in the Republican message, which is tepid, diffuse and easily missed. When Politico wrote a story about the recent change in Republican strategy it was all about the shift away from the tax-cutting emphasis of recent years, rather than towards the national security issue.

So let me describe the reality we are actually facing, which is a necessary preface to the way the Republican Party should be framing its strategy and should be emphasizing the dangers of having a Democratic president like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton – or for that matter a Democratic Congress – leading us in wartime.

I will leave out of this wartime equation the threats from Russia and China, which Obama and the Democrats have done so much to foster. I will focus only on the threat posed by Islamic jihadists, who at this moment can easily penetrate the borders that Obama and the Democrats have done so much to wreck. And carry with them chemical and biological weapons, and – if Iran builds the bombs which Obama the Democrats have made almost inevitable – nuclear weapons as well.

This is easily the greatest terrorist threat in our history, far greater than what transpired before and after 9/11. ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and other Islamic terrorist armies now control territory (and attendant resources) from Afghanistan through Iraq Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Somalia and other regions of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Why has this happened? Because Obama and the Democrats have waged a ten-year war against the war on terror, against American military strength, against an American presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, and against the very idea that Islamic forces have declared war on us. For ten years Democrats have been determined to treat terrorists as individual criminals, arrest them and try them in American courts where they will have all the protections of the American legal system that they are seeking to destroy. So hostile has Obama been to the very notion of a “War on Terror” that he has purged the very term from the official government vocabulary and replaced it with “overseas contingency operations” which describes exactly nothing.

To create the power vacuum which Islamic jihadists have filled, Obama had to defy the advice of his Secretary of Defense and his intelligence advisers. He did this in part by absenting himself from nearly half his daily intelligence briefings, and in part by saying no to absolutely crucial measures that his military staff proposed for countering the threat from ISIS and other terrorist groups. Obama saw to it that America would relinquish its military base in Iraq (a country that strategically borders on Afghanistan, Syria and Iran) or to keep the 20,000 American troops stationed there as his Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff urged him to do.

Obama hated the Iraq War so much that he was willing to betray all the American soldiers who gave their lives to keep Iraq out of the clutches of Iran and safe from the terrorist threat. If Obama had just listened to the advice of his military staff, there would be no ISIS today. Obama’s deliberate, calculated surrender of Iraq (and soon Afghanistan) and failure to stop Syria’s Assad when he crossed Obama’s red line is the greatest and gravest dereliction of duty in the history of the American presidency.

And make no mistake, Obama was not alone. For ten years the Democrats have been sabotaging the war on terror, beginning with their disgraceful scorched earth campaign against President Bush and the War in Iraq and continuing with their full-throated cry for the abandonment of Iraq after Bush had won the peace and contained the terrorist threat. Their support for Obama’s appeasement of Iran and Hamas, his support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and his diplomatic assault on Israel, America’s only true ally in the Middle East, is not only a national disgrace but the heart of the crisis that is looming on the international horizon.

If Republicans fail to articulate the sources of this crisis, and specifically to indict Obama, Hillary and the Democrats for their betrayal of America’s interests and their failure to protect the American people then Republicans electoral prospects will be dim, and with them, their country’s future.

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  • ata777

    It’s nice to think the GOP would learn to be proactive, formulate their own talking points and make Democrats do the defending for a change. But it’s not going to happen. With the exception of the conservative wing of their party, it’s not in their DNA–which is why they spend more time attacking conservatives than Democrats.

    • KevinBattspuv

      my Aunty Eleanor just got an almost new Kia Optima Hybrid from only workin part time on a computer…read review EARN NOW

  • http://www.hubpages.com/profiles/maven101 LarryConners

    Mr. Horowitz is right on, as always…His and Mr. Collier’s Heterodoxy was a welcome relief in the sea of political correctness which continues to wash over academia and American society as a whole…
    While I can agree that the Republican message may be “tepid and diffuse”, the real reason it is perceived as such is because Republicans have yet to put forth a consistent message delivered by an articulate spokesperson at the national level…The occasional blast from Palin or Gingrich stirs the blood but has no lasting effect on the Conservative or Independent voter…I see no one being put forth as a possible presidential candidate that engenders the passion or vision that will be needed if we are to defeat the progressive message…We need a John Galt or a Dagny Taggart ….

    • phoebeintheforest

      …or a Ted Cruz or a Trey Gowdy…

      • http://www.hubpages.com/profiles/maven101 LarryConners

        Trey Gowdy IS John Galt…

  • RAM500

    Is the party of patty-cake really ready to unload on Obama’s true record and nature? Most of them wouldn’t do it even it upped their chances of winning. The current situation lets them reap the financial benefits of a modest level of power without being responsible for anything.

    • phoebeintheforest

      So sad…but it seems to be true.

    • http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/author/kwatson/ megapotamus

      The will to power exceeds the desire for graft but the two are not antagonists. Not among OUR guys.

  • wildjew

    D. Horowitz wrote: “Since 1945 Republicans have not won the popular vote unless national security was the primary issue….”

    I agree with this statement. You could see it in action during the last presidential race. Before the issue at hand turned to national security / foreign policy, Mitt Romney was doing fine on domestic issues. But Romney made it clear early on in the Republican primary debates, 1) he supports the Republican “Establishment” position which envisions a Muslim enemy state in Israel’s heartland, dedicated to Israel’s destruction and 2) Romney believes jihad is NOT part of Islam.

    Romney told Dan Gilgoff: “If you want my views on Islam, it’s quite straightforward. Islam is one of the world’s great religions and the great majority of people in Islam want peace for themselves and peace with their maker. They want to raise families and have a bright future.

    “There is however, a movement in the world known as jihadism….It is by no means a branch of Islam. It is instead an entirely different entity. In no way do I suggest it is a part of Islam.”

    With my party supporting the jihad against Israel, i.e., the destruction of Israel (just like Barack Obama and the Democrats) and our lack of honesty about Islam (remember Republican leaders went after Congresswoman Bachmann because she wanted to investigate Muslim Brotherhood penetration in our government?) why should we expect Republicans to have a coherent or a compelling message on national security?

    • cree

      We shouldn’t because they don’t is my answer to your question.

      There has been a renowned coalition of military and Islam experts testifying, writing, speaking and pleading to be taken seriously to the truth of the threat for too many years and being shunned or ignored. It seems again as history reveals, catastrophe has to occur in order for leadership to be found and to “wise up.” With our enemies, we must hold too those responsible (“on our side” has become a joke) with the consequences of their neglect.

      Let no thoughts of “in vain” of our personal warrior sacrifices come to mind that will dishonor them for doing their duty in spite of supposed leaders not doing theirs.

  • Gee

    The US has played at war since 1945. That is all they have done and it has cost America – lives, money and prestige. For the most part this is the same as Israel.

    If a nation goes to war – it must really go to war and destroy the enemy.

    US wants to fight ISIS then do so and if anybody aids ISIS like Turkey, Saudi Arabia or Qatar (all of which have done so), then the US needs to inform them that if they do not put 100% of the forces at US disposal then they too are at war with the US.

    If it is worth your own citizens’ lives then it better count.

    Now off my soapbox

    • phoebeintheforest

      Hear! Hear!

    • truebearing

      Bullseye.

  • Debbie G

    Yeah, I guess Reince forgot to mention this topic in his list of platitudes…

    http://www.redstate.com/diary/reincepriebus/2014/10/02/principles-american-renewal/

  • SoCalMike

    John Boehner, Paul Ryan and spineless co can be counted on to learn nothing.
    They know the right policies that benefit masses of people but they can not articulate and defend these ideas nor will they fight back when Dems impugn them. They remind me of King Arthur and the other knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail walking away trying to ignore the French soldiers as they dumped feces and everything else on them from the top of the castle.

  • Pete

    ”The problem at the end of the day is how seriously [President Obama] takes this,”

    – Wayne Hsieh, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval Academy and a former State Department official who served in Iraq

  • JERSEY FATMOUTH

    Could “One Party Rule” be the endgame?

    • cree

      That definitely agrees with this regime’s intent. Their efforts to ensure an electoral count majority, election voter fraud, the progressive media propaganda/suppression arm, the corrupt (absence of) justice dept., the IRS gestapo etc. etc.

    • SCREW SOCIALISM

      Stacking the deck with 10 million illegal aliens and no Voter ID is part of the endgame.

  • truebearing

    The difference between the Democrats and Republicans is stark and frightening. George Bush won in Iraq and decimated Al Qaeda in the field of battle, yet was demonized relentlessly for every possible flaw, real or imagined.

    Obama has failed spectacularly at everything, not the least of which, his policy in Iraq that is directly responsible for the rise of ISIS. Throw in his arming of Al Qaeda in Libya, both openly and secretly, and one can say without reservation that the rise of ISIS is 100% Obama’s doing.

    If the tables were turned and it was Bush who was responsible for ISIS, the media and the professional Left would be screaming until blood poured from their evil eyes. Predictably, the Republican leadership has responded to Obama’s man caused disasters with barely audible wimpering and whining.

    Horowitz is right, of course, but that won’t matter to the fools “leading” the Republican Party. He’s been right for decades. The Republican leadership has assiduously ignored his wisdom.

    Along with tarring Obama with his culpability for ISIS, he should be excoriated for his dogmatic response to the Ebola outbreak. If anyone thinks the Democrats wouldn’t use it as a domestic health issue, they are insane or have been living in a coma from birth. Ebola experts — real ones — are now saying that this form of Ebola may be transmitted more easily than originally thought, and could further mutate and become airborne. This is a domestic health issue that Republicans should be using to bludgeon Obama, the Democratic Party, and the media.

    Elections have consequences, as Ebolabama is fond of pointing out, but none in American history have the negative consequences of his elections. Apparently, one of the consequences of losing elections is learning to enjoy it, or so it seems for the Republican leadership. A conspiracy theorist might suggest that they are agents of the Left.

    • Erudite Mavin

      Romney during the debates exposed what Radical Islam is continuing to do, Called Obama on Benghazi, Stated Putin’s Russia is or geopolitical foe, etc.
      While the debate moderators were busy becoming the second debaters vs Romney and Obama’s lies, the general public who don’t have a clue in the first place or are part of the bash Republicans no matter what got their Obama

  • DLKSR

    The GOP has become nothing more than the opposition party!
    Enough Said!

  • Erudite Mavin

    The Republicans have been stating exactly who and what Radical Islam is and the and the disasters of Obama starting with before Obama’s 2009 apology speech on the soil of Cairo that touched off the Arab Spring and the wars in the Middle East and Africa going on today.
    If some people don’t understand English or are too busy bashing Republicans
    to hear what they have been saying right along, they are the ones at fault
    especially those who sat at home election day or voted third party.
    Blame yourselves

  • GSR

    Immigration of Muslims should be halted, at least during the coming next phase of the “war on terror”, if not permanently.

  • OdinsAcolyte

    I hold them responsible for socialism on these shores. They shall not survive the looming civil war. Half the legislation passed this century is unconstitutional. Half of the other half is simply wrong. Making a thing legal doesn’t make it right.

    Death to socialism.

    • SCREW SOCIALISM

      WW2 was a Socialist War (National SOCIALIST and Soviet SOCIALIST .vs. everyone else – until Socialist SHlTler broke the pact) which eventually spread across the globe.

  • http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/author/kwatson/ megapotamus

    I know David is a polemicist by trade but it is very disappointing to have him avoid a most salient fact of which everyone is aware. Yes, Bush conceived and prosecuted his Global War on Terror which was opposed and gutted by the Democrats, but the GWOT itself was always a half-measure. Bush is the original Religion of Peacenik. He is in full-throated agreement with Obama and his fans that this is NOT, most assuredly, jihad that we are experiencing. And McCain was McSame. Romney? He might be a little better but was never really tested. With few exceptions yo cannot find a Republican who will recognize that at least ONE party involved is engaged in a holy war for total global domination. I don’t think even Cruz says that, does he?

  • Dallas25305

    Of course the Demcraps are responsible for terrorism. President Hussein Obola has done everything in his power to destroy the U.S. military all while helping to put the Islamo Fascist in power in, Egypt, Libya and now Syria and Iraq. Note how Hussein has only dropped a few bombs on ISIS and never bombs them when they are in the open when they could be destroyed. Is this an accident, no it is his hatred for the U.S. and white people. That is what he wants, he wants no borders so as to make the people he hates a minority as soon as possible. He wants to the U.S. to be a 3rd world marxist dictatorship and he is well on the way.

  • OneManITDept

    Hold Obama and the Democrats Accountable for the Terrorist Threat…
    Okay but we are gonna need a lot of rope as the punishment from Treason during a time of war is Death. Can someone go to Lowe’s or Home Depot?

  • johnnywood

    We are being governed by fools and idiots and our only hope is the stupid Republicraps. Lord have mercy.

  • http://LiberalPandemic.wordpress.com/ Peter Pocket

    David:

    You’ve just echoed what I’ve been saying since 2008. The Democrats rode into congress on Obama’s Bush-bashing coattails. They did it again, as if they were running against Bush again. But, they are also distancing themselves from Obama – like I drove the getaway car and split the money with the bank robber, but I’m not his partner in crime.

    Every Democrat who voted with Obama must be held accountable – especialy the ones who attempted to cover -up his crimes and cover-ups. For every felony we accuse Obama of committing, a Democrat will cry, “Racist,” while another will cry “Conspiracy theory.”

    The Democrats have the added gal of accusing the GOP of politicizing Benghazi. It’s called “foreign policy” and it is a major job task of the President – a task this fraud of a President has not been doing. People actually approve of his job as President?

    What do they think his job is? Playing golf? Attending fundraisers? Going on vacations? Appearing on TV?

    These people should not be allowed to vote.