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Hagel breaks with Obama: “You can’t confuse your allies and your adversaries by saying Assad must go”

Nov 26, 2015 9:08 am By Robert Spencer

Hagel is right. Obama insists that in order to defeat the Islamic State, the U.S. and its allies have to take out Assad. This is because he insists that the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam — if that is the case, then what is it? Simply an anti-Assad resistance movement. This ignores, of course, all of the Islamic State’s stated goals that go far beyond removing Assad.

hagel

“Chuck Hagel on Fighting Islamic State: ‘There Is No Military Solution,’” by David Rutz, Daily Caller, November 22, 2015:

…“Second, I always felt that we needed to more clearly define our political strategy, along with our military strategy, because it’s my opinion, it certainly was the opinion of the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marty Dempsey, he can speak for himself, but it was our opinion that there is no military solution to this. We are up against an ideology. We are up against a reality of dynamics, a set of dynamics we’ve never seen before. Sophistication of social media, the military prowess, the tactical, strategic prowess that ISIS possesses, the funding. So we should more clearly define what is our political strategy. What are our priorities? Who is the enemy here? Is Assad the enemy or is ISIS the enemy?”

“Do you think that we should not have Assad as our designated enemy right now? We should focus on ISIS?” Tapper asked.

“Well, Assad is a very bad guy,” Hagel said. “There are bad guys all over the world, but I think it’s pretty clear that ISIS represents the real threat to our country, to the world. I said so 15 months ago in a press conference when I was asked about ISIS … Assad has to be dealt with, but you can’t confuse your allies and your adversaries by saying Assad must go.”…

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Filed Under: Barack Obama, Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Syria, United States Tagged With: Chuck Hagel


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Comments

  1. jewdog says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 9:53 am

    ISIS is big in states where there’s no Assad, and in Libya, where there’s no anyone.

  2. steph says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 10:04 am

    get rid of both problem solved

    • Ripakinddu says

      Nov 27, 2015 at 12:32 am

      You must be some kind of genius.

    • pj says

      Nov 27, 2015 at 4:01 am

      Get rid of BO. He’s the problem! In a nutshell: He supplied weapons to our enemies in Benghazi — ohhhhh, we’re giving weapons to the ‘moderates.’ Yeah right. ISIS is driving and using American equipment and weapons! BO left a void in Iraq when he removed the troops (the military experts told him not a good idea. Even Bush said it would be a mistake); ISIS moved in. He left a void in Syria when he lied about the “red line” — and then when chemical weapons were used he cowered and watched it happen; ISIS moved in. Russia is moving in all over the Middle East. Russia laughs at BO’s empty threats! The refugees began to pour OUT of their countries to flee the terror. Now he’s bringing ISIS to America — over our already open borders. This is ALL ON BO’S HANDS. ALL OF IT. You lefties are gonna pay for putting a tyrant in OUR White House — twice!!! Unfortunately, so will those of us who were smart enough to know what he meant when he said, “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Well, you’re seeing it in action now, but it’s too late. Your stupidity has destroyed a once exceptional nation that DID welcome the poor and hungry — LEGALLY!!! and VETTED! BO is letting illegals pour over the borders, Syrian terrorists, and loosing the criminals back on our streets. GOOD JOB, STUPIDS!

  3. KrazyKafir says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 10:23 am

    I swear it looks like Hagel has been reading, The Complete Guide to ISIS.

    • undebed cat says

      Nov 27, 2015 at 12:40 am

      Mr. Hagel. please continue to point out the truth, what is isil (obama preference) wants is for Assad to be gone for the caliphate. Putin stated, that the Christians know who is killing them, I think maybe you know now….does OBa’s the comment about Christian refugees make sense to you now. Thank you for speaking out…courage comes. Without Assad isis brutality continues.

  4. mortimer says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 11:50 am

    Syria is an artificial country that came about when the Alawite majority took over the Sunnite minority that had benefited under the Sunnite Ottoman Empire.

    The time may have come to divide Syria into the previous Alawite State on the coast with independent Sunnite territories located in the interior.

    Pulling these vicious, rabid dogs apart may be the only solution.

  5. JIMJFOX says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 12:44 pm

    In EVERY case where an ‘evil dictator’ has been toppled in the Islamic world,
    the terror group that replaced him has been infinitely WORSE.
    Has the West learned nothing from these misadventures?

    Russia has. Support Assad, not Jihad!!

    • Salome says

      Nov 26, 2015 at 2:42 pm

      I’m not sure Russia has learned anything. I think she knew all along.

  6. TheDane says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    Assad is needed in that region, just ask the Christians! They always say that under Assad they could practice their faith, they could go to church, and they don’t want Assad to go. The Middle East is full of lunatic moslems that want to kill one another – and others, and one can see what became of Iraq once they got rid of Hussein. That was not good! Moslems need to have dictators as leaders, to keep them down, so to speak. They are a vile, barbaric people!

  7. SpiritOf1683 says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 2:18 pm

    Cameron was at it today, saying Assad must go. As far as foreign affairs are concerned, Cameron and Obama don’t possess the knowledge of a fruit fly between them.

  8. kay says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    Chuck Hagel is a true political pro and he makes perfectly good sense.

    Al Assad does not in any way threaten the United States or Europe.
    He is not an enemy of NATO in any way.
    Islamic State does actively threaten all of NATO.

    Assad is a bad guy. He is also desperate because the Sunni Muslims ( Islamic State, Erdogan of Turkey, the Saudi government supporters of Islamic State, and jihadis from over ninety countries ) want to EXTERMINATE Assad’s people, the Alawite Muslims.

    It would be a bloodbath of unlimited revenge. With lots of genocide. Barack Obama actively and militarily supports the Sunni attack on Damascus and therefore also the attack on the Orthodox Christians of coastal Syria. There is no legal justification for US military support against the Alawites and Orthodox Christians of Syria.

    This support is disastrous on all levels. And without military engagement by Russia and Iran, Damascus would have fallen months ago, leading inevitably to genocide. A genocide that would be directly made possible by the US administration.

    In the case of Islamic State they would definitely slaughter, enslave, rape, subjugate and in all ways crush ( many of ) the two million Orthodox Christians in coastal Syria. We all know this because of the way Islamic State treats Yazidi and Kurds in Iraq:
    slaughter, enslavement, rape, theft of children and so forth.

    The Obama administration policy for Syria is the greatest threat to the Syrian Christians. The Obama administration recently provided fifty tons of war munitions to the Sunni jihadis in western Syria. In one military set of air drops.

    Merry Christmas from the White House, all ye faithful. I would not have expected such a presidential action by Barack Obama. I voted against the Republican candidate who wanted to take down Assad, and I got a Democratic president who wants to take down Assad.

    Life is suffering. Not getting what you want is suffering. Getting what you want is suffering. Politics is suffering. Lots and lots of suffering. For everyone. It is a kind of feverish insanity. This is a downward spiral.

    Try and find me a decent and reasonable Presidential candidate this time around, okay? And for that matter, a replacement for Chancellor Merkel, who has worked so hard to destroy Germany and Europe.
    I’m sick of these destructive fools. They ruin everything.
    Both Merkel and Obama are highly educated political pros.
    What do they hope to achieve by directly endangering and destroying whole societies?
    Major western governmental leaders have gone insane. Their primary responsibility is to defend their countries, to prevent their destruction. Not to expose them to extreme danger from foreigners, particularly not jihadis.

    The current major political paths lead inevitably to increasingly large scale international war. A war that will not stop for anything. It is the return of the Long War to Europe and the rise of globalized Sunni Muslim fascism and jihad.

    A reasonably intelligent high school kid could understand what I am saying here.
    Au secours! Help!

    • Godwin says

      Nov 26, 2015 at 6:39 pm

      Putin had warned Obama n Nato that if they bomb Assad, his ally, he would bomb Saudi Arabia. That is this reason Assad is still in power.
      Obama tolerated ISIS n assisted the FSA hoping that they will destroy Assad.

  9. Matthieu Baudin says

    Nov 26, 2015 at 10:40 pm

    In the current crisis, to be fighting Syrian Government Armed Forces is to be actively assisting Islamic State in their violent expansionist campaign. While Assad’s forces probably were responsible for using poison gas, the circumstances and rational for its use are unlikely to be available for scrutiny for a considerable time. My suspicion is that gas was employed to route a Jihadi stronghold in a suburban location; if that was the case, in my book it was unjustified, however the circumstances are relevant to the level of moral approbation that is levelled. Whatever judgement people make about the incident, there is no evidence that it had more than a passing influence upon the motives or behaviour of ISIS or the process of fanaticisation of large segments of the Sunni population of Syria and Iraq. Furthermore, it is likely that ISIS and allied groups will use whatever means of mass destruction they like, as these become available, if these are seen on balance to best serve their strategic goals.

  10. Baucent says

    Nov 27, 2015 at 1:24 am

    Here is a recent published commentary on Turkey’s ambitions for Syria by Gwynne Dyer;

    “Erdogan has two goals: to ensure the destruction of Assad’s regime, and to prevent the creation of a new Kurdish state in Syria. He was making some progress on both objectives – and then along came the Russians in September and saved the Syrian army from defeat, at least for the moment.

    Worse yet, Putin’s strategy turns out to quite pragmatic, and even rather attractive to the United States despite all the ritual anti-Russian propaganda emitted by Washington. Putin wants a ceasefire in Syria that will leave everybody where they are now – except Islamic State, which they can all then concentrate on destroying.

    This strategy is now making some headway in the Vienna ceasefire talks, but it is utterly abhorrent to Erdogan because it would leave Assad in power in Damascus, and give the Syrian Kurds time to consolidate their new state. How can he derail this Russian-led project?

    Well, he could shoot down a Russian plane, and try to get a confrontation going between Russia and NATO.”

  11. Andrew H. says

    Nov 27, 2015 at 9:24 am

    Obama must go. Obama must go before all else. And not just allowed to “go” anywhere. He needs to first be kept at Guantanamo while the new regime builds the incredible case of crimes and misdemeanors topped by Treason! He must go, be tried and convicted. And the conviction for treason must be in the classic sense. Nothing less will do to begin to repair this world.

  12. Kepha says

    Nov 27, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    A rare moment of lucidity.

  13. Linda Rivera says

    Nov 27, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    Assad’s secular regime PROTECTS Christians and other minorities and it’s why the Obama regime HATES Assad so much. The Obama regime and their close partners, ISIS monsters and bloodthirsty Turkey want Assad and his secular regime and the nation of Syria destroyed and Syria’s government replaced with barbaric ISIS savages and full sharia law. A huge genocide of innocents would immediately commence.

    Putin is the world’s only ethical leader whose military seeks to protect innocents. God forever bless and protect Putin, the Russian military and Russian people.

  14. Kepha says

    Nov 28, 2015 at 8:01 am

    Dubya Bush got rid of Sodom Insane, so the O thinks he’s going to do one better by getting rid of both the Drag Queen of the Desert (Qaddafi) and Bashir al-Assad. Hence this confused policy of supporting MB and Qaida-lite “moderate” rebels against his regime while damning the Da’esh with whom our supposed “friends” are allied.

    Hopefully, someone in the GOP is taking a long, hard look at this and crafting a better alternative. If the GOP weren’t the Stupid Party, it would be running circles around the mendacious, corrupt Shrillary Shroooooo over her having proven her incompetence for high office as SecState.

  15. dragaozao says

    Nov 28, 2015 at 9:01 am

    Honestly, as someone who’s not american, I can say this: no one really expects much from USA theses days. No real leadership, no lucidity, no serious plans to solve any problem. Any time Obama speaks and takes actions, things simply get worse. And what is more worrying, no one really expects a real change with the next elections. The american elite just seems not to have any idea of what is the real world (or simply doesn’t care). This week he saw a russian pilot being killed while falling in a parachute. That violates the Geneva Convention, a serious atempt to “civilize” warfare (if we can use this word). Obama defended Turkey, who deliberatly atacked a plane who “threatened” its security for… 17 seconds. Not one word to speak agains savagery and the violation of international treates. This means america has doube (or more) standards. Not good, for someone who claims to lead the free world.

  16. Angemon says

    Nov 28, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    Assad has to be dealt with

    As long as they keep to their country and people, dictators should be dealt with from within – having a foreign nation interfering in politics seldom ends well.

    Things were so much simpler during the Cold War…

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