Tuesday, May 26, 2015
From: Gary L. Bauer
BREAKING NEWS: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Obama Administration’s request to lift a federal court injunction against President Obama’s executive order granting amnesty to as many as five million illegal immigrants.
To be clear, the court did not strike down Obama’s immigration amnesty program. But by refusing to lift the injunction, the court strongly signaled that it believes the president’s amnesty is likely illegal. Federal officials will continue to be barred from implementing Obama’s amnesty while the legal challenge to its constitutionality is argued in federal court.
Why Obama Is Losing
It has become obvious in recent days that President Obama’s strategy for confronting ISIS isn’t working. Today’s New York Times explains why: Obama has handcuffed our military.
According to the report, U.S. intelligence has identified seven buildings in Raqqa, Syria, that essentially function as the headquarters of ISIS. Yet the Times writes that the buildings have not been bombed “during the 10-month allied air campaign.” When ISIS captured Ramadi, its fighters “paraded triumphantly through the streets . . . unscathed by coalition fighter-bombers.”
What’s going on? The Times tells us that “American officials say they are not striking significant — and obvious — Islamic State targets out of fear that the attacks will accidentally kill civilians.”
We have seen this tactic before. Hamas and Hezbollah routinely hide weapons in civilian areas. But under international law the jihadists are responsible for any civilian casualties.
The conditions imposed by Obama are so severe that “only about one of every four” sorties actually results in a strike. According to the New York Times, “The rest of the missions have returned to the base after failing to find a target they were permitted to hit under strict rules of engagement.”
Consider these statistics for some perspective:
“The [anti-ISIS] air campaign has averaged a combined total of about 15 strikes a day in Iraq and Syria. In contrast, the NATO air war against Libya in 2011 carried out about 50 strikes a day in its first two months. The campaign in Afghanistan in 2001 averaged 85 daily airstrikes, and the Iraq war in 2003 about 800 a day.”
While I appreciate the desire to avoid civilian casualties, ISIS is responsible for any civilian deaths when it uses innocent people as human shields. But Obama is allowing ISIS to turn our sensibilities against us. Obama is allowing an enemy that decapitates Christians and burns prisoners alive to dictate our strategy.
Far from ending the war, Obama is prolonging it. And he is prolonging the suffering in the region as well. Even worse, each passing day that ISIS survives increases the danger to our homeland from ISIS plots hatched overseas, jihadis returning home or radicalized lone-wolf sympathizers.
Baltimore Loses Its Charm
News broke just before the holiday weekend began that the six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray were indicted by a grand jury Friday. Thugs in Charm City, as Baltimore is nicknamed, rejoiced. Over the weekend 28 people were shot, nine were killed. The killings have made this May the deadliest month in Charm City in more than 15 years.
Baltimore has been in the grip of the left politically for decades. But now the entire left-wing movement has descended on the city just as it did in Ferguson and Cleveland. It is bringing with it a narrative that portrays street thugs as noble and police as villains. It casts minority youth as victims of society. It suggests that the breakdown of the family doesn’t matter. It demands we keep the Ten Commandments away from children.
As the left implements its philosophy, particularly moral relativism, the inevitable result is that government must expand to control the passions of the people. The left loves government when its bureaucrats are engineering our lives. But it despises government when it is the local cop on the beat trying to contend with the wreckage of left-wing policies.
I have an extended family member who serves on the Baltimore police force. I am told that demoralization is pervasive in the force and that many officers may quit.
The media cameras may be gone, but the cell phone cameras are not. When the police are called to respond to a reported crime, they are often greeted by an angry crowd. They are verbally and physically harassed. Multiple videos are being shot by people hoping to get their 15 seconds of fame or grounds for a lawsuit. Arrests in Baltimore have plummeted because the police have no idea what they are supposed to do when someone resists arrest.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she is “disheartened” by the violence, “especially when we think about the progress that we’ve made.” What progress?
Did some business ignore the burning buildings and make an illogical decision to open a new factory in Baltimore to create jobs there? Have the gangs surrendered their weapons? I’m not aware of anything in Baltimore that the mayor or anyone else could consider progress.
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