For months, many Western observers have been closely following the minute-by-minute developments concerning the battle between Islamic State and coalition forces in the hopes that such data will help them discern what the future may hold.
Yet knowledge of the end game has been available for anyone viewing the Obama administration with the eyes of a hedgehog, not a fox.
In an article published over seven months ago, I anticipated the main developments to have taken place since U.S. President Obama declared war (i.e., “airstrikes”) on the Islamic State in September, 2014. Titled “Does Obama Need ‘Time to Defeat or Forget ISIS?” I made the following predictions, all of which have come true, and in the same sequence:
Obama’s “it will take time” [to defeat IS] assertion prompts the following prediction: U.S. airstrikes on IS targets will continue to be just enough to pacify those calling for action against the caliphate (“we’re doing what we can”). The official [U.S. government’s] narrative will be that the Islamic State is gradually being weakened, that victory is a matter of time (remember, “It will take time”)….
[W]e will hear about the occasional victory against IS—this or that leader killed or captured…
Then, just as they “suddenly” appeared in Iraq, we will “suddenly” again hear—probably first from IS itself—that the Islamic State has made some major comeback, winning over some new piece of territory, as the caliphate continues to grow and get stronger.
Now consider how the Obama administration’s actions have fulfilled these predictions, and often in the same sequence.
The official [U.S. government’s] narrative will be that the Islamic State is gradually being weakened, that victory is a matter of time…
Last February, key Obama administration figures—including Secretary of State John Kerry and retired General John Allen, the president’s special coordinator for the coalition against the Islamic State—triumphantly asserted that, thanks to U.S. airstrikes, “half the group’s [IS] leaders in Iraq had been killed.”
Not long thereafter, an investigative report demonstrated that such claims were utterly false and hardly representative of reality.
[W]e will hear about the occasional victory against IS…
In April, the Pentagon announced that, thanks to U.S. airstrikes and the Iraqi army, “ISIL [Islamic State] is no longer the dominant force in roughly 25 to 30% of the populated areas of Iraqi territory where it once had complete freedom of movement.” The Pentagon even released a map showing which territories the Islamic State had lost.
Soon, however, it became evident that the Pentagon’s claim and map were misleading and incomplete. Among other irregularities, the map, while showing territories that IS once held and territories it had since lost, failed to indicate the new territories IS had gained since the coalition effort began—making the 25%-30% claim totally misleading.
[W]e will hear about … this or that leader killed or captured…
Nor was Obama administration grandstanding concerning the killing of “key” IS figures wanting. Most recently, on May 16, U.S. special forces managed to kill Abu Sayyaf. Although only a mid-ranking leader, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said his killing “represents another significant blow to Isis.” (Read here for an idea of how many times U.S. officials have made the “significant blow” assertion whenever this or that jihadi dies, only for the jihad to spread and conquer more lands.)
Even the New York Times observed that “Abu Sayyaf is a midlevel leader in the organization — one terrorism analyst compared him to Al Capone’s accountant — and likely is replaceable in fairly short order.”
Then, just as they “suddenly” appeared in Iraq, we will “suddenly” again hear—probably first from IS itself—that the Islamic State has made some major comeback, winning over some new piece of territory, as the caliphate continues to grow and get stronger.
Finally, after the Obama administration had claimed that it had killed half of IS leadership, that it had pushed IS out of 25%-30% previously held territory, that its killing of an IS midlevel leader was a “significant blow”—right on cue, the Islamic State just announced its takeover of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, one of Iraq’s most strategic provinces. According to a May 17 Reuters report:
Islamic State militants said they had taken full control of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday in the biggest defeat for the Baghdad government since last summer…. Keep reading
t. says
In 2008 and during his first campaign for the presidency, that guy lied to and deceived me, as well as millions of others, as we really believed him when he said that he was Christian.
I really regretted supporting him in 2008!
Don McKellar says
So — and maybe I’m not reading your post correctly — if Obama had not said that he was a Christian and said that he was an atheist would you have still voted for him? Are you saying it’s only because he said he was Christian that you voted for him?
I can understand NOT voting for somebody who says they’re a moslem. And it is simply because that means that they come from a belief system that is directly opposed to the laws of the United States. Nobody in their right mind would vote for a moslem running for ANY public office if they have even a basic understanding of Islam.
Don McKellar says
And I guess I should add that, if you voted for somebody simply because they say they are Christian, have you now learned your lesson — and will in the future vote for candidates based upon what they actually have proven they stand for and based on their past history?
t. says
Guys, you and Mo, calm down! I meant not a Muslim, as he himself said that to prove that he was not a Muslim.
William says
“Nobody in their right mind would vote for a moslem running for ANY public office if they have even a basic understanding of Islam.”
There appears to be a lot of people in the USA who are not in their right mind, for they have voted and continue to vote for Mohammedans in various posts in government.
nacazo says
I voted for McCain but looking at McCain’s record regarding militant Islam, he is as compromised as Obama.
RickMT says
He’s a pathetic looney RINO. I guess his constituents are as senile as he.
Mo says
@ t.
“In 2008 and during his first campaign for the presidency, that guy lied to and deceived me, as well as millions of others, as we really believed him when he said that he was Christian.”
First of all I don’t know what “being Christian” even means. I know what being a Christian means.
Second of all, why would you think a man is a follower of Christ when he mocked Scripture in public, voted TWICE to let aborted babies die without medical care, and spent 20 years in a racist, blasphemous “church” listening to the rantings of racist, lying, blasphemous, America-hating Jeremiah Wright?
Gary says
All I know is I can’t wait for 2017!
Hope & Change!!!!!
God I cannot believe the voters put that clown in office, not once, but TWICE!!
God help us!!!
Mirren10 says
I’m not an American; I’ve often wondered if anyone ever asked him exactly what *change* he was advocating, and what he actually meant by ‘hope’ ? And if they did, did he ever answer the question ?
Catholic says
One way to “fact check” a candidate — actual Christians are pro-life.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
Secretary of State John Kerry and retired General John Allen, the president’s special coordinator for the coalition against the Islamic State—triumphantly asserted that, thanks to U.S. airstrikes, “half the group’s [IS] leaders in Iraq had been killed.”
I’ve always sneered when we get the “leaders killed” treatment. So what? If Ike had been shot by a double agent, would we not have won at Normandy and Bastogne? Killing a leader only matters when the people being led are at odds with the leader, for example as was the case with the German people and Hitler after it became apparent he had taken them on an historic trip down Ego Lane.
The propensity to count leader corpses is akin to discussing this or that matter of the Global Jihad within the context of a single Mujahidin organization, which has the effect of limiting the scope of the problem and making the problems the ogranization makes seem defeatable, or at least manageable.
The activists serving as Mujahidin don’t give a damn when one of their top leaders is snuffed, and they don’t care what the name of the latest organization delivering the Jihad happens to be. Leaders are people and organizations are groups of people, and people come and go. The people that don’t go, unfortunately, are the Moslems, the Ummah. For example, the generals on Fox RINO complain that we’re not seriously pursuing the war in Iraq. Oh yeah? What do we do then, carpet bomb Ramadi, Mosul and Fallujah? If we can’t do that, it stands that we can’t run a serious war effort against them. This is why there is no definition of “victory” in this war.
It’s the Moslems, stupid.
ps, I say “stupid” in the generic here as a play on Prez Bill’s admonition that “it’s the economy, stupid”; the word is not at Ibrahim, who has demonstrated his prescience on Moslem matters.
William Lucas Harvey Jr. says
Islam, Isis, and Peace ? NOT with America’s “Imperial” Potus, who IS VERY obviously Pro Islam, Pro Muslim, and VERY seemingly Anti America, Anti Constitution, Anti Christian.
People should also note that when Muslims Speak of Islam, whether they are speaking of Islam, Allah, Muhammed, or the Qur’an, no matter on WHICH Venue they are Speaking, they ALWAYS use the SAME PRE PROGRAMMED “Peace” Phrases referring to Islam, and THEMSELVES, such as is Gleaned from the “Teachings” of Muslim Sources:
__________
* “…Islam IS ‘The Religion of Peace’…”
* “…Qur’an or words of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)…”.
* “…And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that …”.
* “…And in an authentic hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that…”.
* “…The Prophet, (peace be upon him) is reported to have said…”.
* “…The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)…”.
* “…According to Qur’an and Hadith, The saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)…”.
* “…Salam dear brother, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Quran lays down general principles to guide our actions…”.
* “…In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger…”
__________
Whereas, in REALITY Islam HAS DEMONSTRATED, through it’s OWN WELL DOCUMENTED Bloody Butchering Actions and Deeds, and PROVEN itself to be ANYTHING BUT the “Religion of Peace”, and instead Islam IS “The INTOLERANT Religion of HATE”, and in REALITY NOT a “Religion” at all, but a “Death Cult” bent on World Domination, and Territorial Acquisition, using “Religion” as an EXCUSE and a LIE in order to obtain a “Religious Status” (which is ACTUALLY False), in Free Countries (such as America) that offer such benefits.
Islam and Muslims WILL REFUSE to abide by the Laws of ANY Country, as Islam considers Islamic Sharia Law as “Supreme”, even over America’s Constitution, which IS IN America the SUPREME Law of The Land.
Islam even wants World Wide Enforced “Blasphemy Laws”, with “Criminal Penalties” FORCED on ANYONE who “Defames” or “Blasphemes” Islam, WHILE on the OTHER HAND Islam feels that IT has the Allah, Muhammed, and Qur’an given RIGHT to “Defame”, Degrade”, and “Blaspheme”, ANY NON ISLAMIC Religion, Belief, or Faith, with an expected “Impunity”.
Such ARE the Tactics of Islam and Muslim “Accepted” Lying and Deception (known as Taqiyya and Kitman), that advance the cause of Islam, by gaining the trust of Infidel non-believers, in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them.
AND, IF Islamic Taqiyya and Kitman is NOT Effective, in gaining the trust of Infidel non-believers, THEN Islam IS FORCED, on those Remaining, through the “Example” of DEATH to ALL those who refused to accept, INCLUDING to ALL those who initially “Accepted” then left Islam.
Edward says
Tribal alliance in action……they call it ‘taqiyah”
We should affirm our faith with the God of the “10 Commandments” as a lasting covenant as His creations.
This alliance with our Creator will trump any man made Tribal covenant!
Don McKellar says
You know, I’m almost begining to believe that Robert Spencer and Raymond Ibrahim and the other contributors to Jihad Watch are PSYCHICS! They can predict every move and future event with regards to moslems with over a 90% accuracy rate. Maybe more.
But then I give my head a shake and remember that they can do that because they know all about Islam and therefore are almost always a couple of steps ahead of any moslem — as the Islamic supremacists are only zombies following a playbook whose rules and goals and strategies never change.
Edward says
“as the Islamic supremacists are only zombies following a playbook whose rules and goals and strategies never change.”
These zombies are maligned lose cannons…….their minds don’t think in unity; this will be their cause of many of their errors leading to their failures in time.
Messer. Robert Spencer and Raymond Ibrahim minds are blessed with discernment to aid by their insight as a deterrent against these zombies!
Edward says
Ooops That should’ve been: “maligned loose cannons” Sorry!
Edward says
My second Ooops for the day!
I wrote Messers should’ve been Messrs! Sorry!
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
I’m almost begining to believe that Robert Spencer and Raymond Ibrahim and the other contributors to Jihad Watch are PSYCHICS! They can predict every move and future event with regards to moslems with over a 90% accuracy rate. Maybe more.
Yeah, they have 1,400 years of well documented action packed history to go on. And the scriptures don’t hurt, either. My guess is that Spencer (and Ibrahim, and others) believes there is a direct link between the scriptures and today’s Moslem events, which has gone from maybe 5% of news entertainment airtime 30 years ago to about a full third now.
t. says
Anyone who knows Islam well- its history, Quran, Hadiths, Sunnah, all of it inside out, can predict very accurately future developments related to it.
In the middle of the 1980’s, long before any Islamic terrorist activity on US soil, I was frustrated watching all efforts and attention of then president Ronald Reagan, many western governments and mainstream media, were only and solely on the USSR, the “Empire of Evil”, China and Communism!
I talked to many people I knew, whenever possible, about the approaching Islamic conquest and the real omnipresent threat of its ideology to the whole world. Many didn’t believe or understand what the heck I was saying. I still remember vividly, one special incident where I was talking to a government official on behalf of someone who was fleeing for his life from a Muslim country, because he converted from Islam to Christianity and he said that if he was to be discovered as a convert from Islam, he would be put to death.
While I believed him, as I knew a lot about Islam, the government official said that he was lying! It’s saddening to see, over 27 years later, and after all those related-to-Islam developments on world scene, from the attacks of 9/11 onward, that that attitude and ignorance are still rampant among millions of non Muslims, not only in western countries, but in at least almost all non Muslim countries!
There, lies the real danger, total ignorance, willful or not, on the part of most of this planet’s population regarding the reality of this massive cult!!
RickMT says
……and the American left, who suck to islam, keep talking about innocent moderate muslims in America. Their silence is deafening because they are too busing providing material and psychological support to their jihadist children. On odd days, they attempt to change us into the hated country they just left.
Davegreybeard says
A healthy America would crush ISIS and the world wide Jihad with ease.
But with Obama, Democrats and even a few “conservative” fools steering the ship, no effective opposition will take place for a while.
So the contest will become much more “sporty” in that the Jihadis will be given at least a year and a half to grow ever stronger, with more resources and spread organizational links throughout the globe.
We will have a tough fight when the time comes to root these varmints out of their holes.
We will pay dearly for the smug satisfaction of electing our first “affirmative action” President.
Mirren10 says
”We will pay dearly for the smug satisfaction of electing our first “affirmative action” President.”
Yes. Really just another example of the stupidity of many people. Vote for him; not because he has sensible policies, but because he’s ‘black’, and that makes us feel so enlightened and special.
As I said in my earlier post, above, did anyone ever ask obama exactly what he meant by ‘Hope and change’ ? And did he ever answer them ?
And it looks as if Americans are getting ready to elect Hilary Clinton; not because she has viable policies, but because she’s a **woman**.
This sort of nonsense isn’t confined to Americans, either. We have plenty of luvvies in the UK who think you should elect Hilary simply because she’s a *woman*. The intelligence, or otherwise, of her policies, has absolutely nothing to do with it.
If only Oswald Mosely had had the prescience to figure out this idiocy; he could have put his wife Cimmie up as a candidate for Prime Minister, and guaranteed a landslide. Of course, back in the thirties, no-one swallowed this rubbish.
John Boston says
We should just start calling IS “the caliphate”, since that is their self-identification. After all, we call homosexuals Gays and everyone else by their preferred name; why doesn’t Obama admit that we are facing the threat of a worldwide Caliphate?
samdav7 says
Back in early 90’s the US led war on Iraq to get its oil using a number of clearly false big accusations which one of them was Iraq ‘ s chemical weapons which later proved to be completely false and they never existed , or Iraq is supporting and funding al – Qaeda which again proved to be a big lie by the US misleading propaganda
Anyway, the point I wanna make here is at that time the US waged war on Iraq when it had a very strong and organised army of one million properly trained soldiers armed with all modern weapons of war including jet fighters, bombers and a huge range of squad missiles, but the US was able to occupy the whole country in a few days
I personally was there in Baghdad when it was raining bombs days and nights none stop, thousands of tonnes of explosives dropped on Baghdad and other major cities then in few short days the US occupiers were sitting in the presidential palace running the whole country of 30 million people and sucking their own oil
Now the US administration is trying not so hard to convince the audience ( mostly naive and believe every single lie they hear on mainstream media ) that it cannot win a war with a small bunch of primitive barbarians and savages called ISIS that makes me laugh every time I watch the white house announcements or the US news on mainstream media talking about the US war against Isis which is been going on for many years and the poor American military might cannot win this little war LOL
But the truth is with people out there who keep saying that there’s so much evidence that there are many cia agents in Isis headquarters running the whole shaw and they insist on that
Angemon says
samdav7 posted:
“Back in early 90’s the US led war on Iraq to get its oil using a number of clearly false big accusations which one of them was Iraq ‘ s chemical weapons which later proved to be completely false and they never existed , or Iraq is supporting and funding al – Qaeda which again proved to be a big lie by the US misleading propaganda”
And that’s the tip not to take you seriously…
Benedict says
Bush Sr. went to war so that his corporate buddies could make money in selling arms, Bush Jr. a warmonger had a beef with Saddam and now Obama a person who looks the other way when others are being killed.But when it comes to muslim nations and the muslims he is very active in protecting them. His second term in office is a big mistake
asc says
I am an English follower of Jihad Watch, and have read the many valid criticisms which Robert Spencer has made about our dhimmi government, compliant police forces and social service departments.
These points are all valid and shared by myself and friends.
The United States are the Wests’ only superpower who can take on the global fight against Islamofascist groups, whatever they name they operate under.
I implore all Americans to demand from their government, effective action against these criminals.
Andrew.
tilda says
The photograph above says so much about Obama. So many of his photographs are so set up / posed. He’s the ultimate poseur.
Here we have Obama with a halo of the red, white and blue.
It’s all so carefully stage managed; all so orchestrated.
Time to look at almost every photograph you see of him, and ask yourself, “How are they trying to manipulate me with this?”
Be alert to it; don’t passively absorb it.
Matthieu Baudin says
Is this a proud new phase in American Isolationism?
rcourtemanche says
Power corrupts