Obama Press Conference Recap

By Paul Dixon  |  30minuteVIEW.blogspot.com  |  November 16, 2015

President Obama held a press conference at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Turkey.  The majority of the questions were on the Paris attacks and national security.  The President outlined in detail his strategy dealing with ISIS, but seems totally puzzled by the fact that so many people conclude that the strategy is not working.  In my opinion, the current strategy does not address the real issue involved.  The President stated that it is very difficult dealing with an enemy that is willing to die for the cause they believe in.  There lies the real issue.  Our enemy, that has declared war on us and has repeatedly stated how they are going to carry out their mission, is totally committed.  We are not.

After several reporters inquired about our strategy, whether we have underestimated ISIS, and calling for a more aggressive approach, President Obama was irritated and perplexed that the responses he provided to these questions were not accepted as adequate.  He has continually stated that ISIS is contained.  He means in terms of geographic ground that they control.  He fails to acknowledge that while they may be contained geographically, they continue to grow in terms of their ability to create terror and attack their enemy.

So, the question that remains unanswered is this - Why do we not take this seriously and do everything in our power to, not contain, but stop ISIS?????

Regarding the Syrian refugees, he stated that we have an obligation to help by allowing refugees to come to our country.  Not doing so is a betrayal of our values.  He referred to the refugees as women and children fleeing the civil war in Syria.  To a degree, that is true.  But, the President did not acknowledge that a majority of the refugees are male and of fighting age; he did not acknowledge that at least one of the Paris attackers arrived in Europe last month as a refugee; and, he did not acknowledge that accepting refugees contains any degree of danger.  Instead, he stated that the refugees would be subject to "rigorous screening."

I believe that there is no real data to review regarding the refugees.  Therefore, the rigorous screening may be irrelevant.  FBI Director Robert Comey recently appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.  He stated that if we have no information on someone, there will be no record on them and so it will be challenging. We can only rely on the information we have.

After years of dealing with ISIS, our efforts appear to be failing.  While I believe we have thwarted several terror attempts, I also believe that we have not adequately committed to defeating our enemy.

I encourage you to read the summaries and news reports of this press conference.