Democrats Want More

For John, BLUF:  It is still a long way to November 2016.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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This is from The Old Gray Lady, so you can assume that the Democrat Party Establishment is behind this message—"Obama’s Plans to Stop ISIS Leave Many Democrats Wanting More".  Reporters are Jennifer Steinhauer and Michael D Shear.  The dateline is Washington, on 8 December.  Here is the lede:

Many of President Obama’s Democratic allies in Congress say they do not believe he is being aggressive enough in confronting the terrorist threat of the Islamic State after last week’s attacks in California, undermining Americans’ sense of safety, especially among voters who will decide the party’s fate in elections next year.

Let us be fair.  The President has a strategy and he is following it.  To some degree his plan reflects the facts on the ground in the Middle East.  Syria and Iraq and not effective unified nation states.  If we put a lot of boots on the ground we need to be prepared to stay there a while.  I am not sure the American People want that.

Here is how The Military Times introduces its article, "Washington, Baghdad on different pages in fight against IS" (Ms Susannah George, AP, reporting):

A series of political spats that erupted in Baghdad over the past week surrounding foreign forces on Iraqi soil have exposed the increasing weakness of Iraq's central government and a growing disconnect between Washington and Baghdad in the U.S.-led coalition's fight against the Islamic State group.

That is not a good situation into which we should be introducing US forces, unless we are talking very large numbers of US forces.  Think six figures.

And, of course, there are other agendas being pursued.  Candidate Donald Trump has ripped the scab off the refugee issue and the migrant issue and it is resonating with many Americans.  Here is what the article says about the Democrat approach to dealing with that.

Senate Democrats are working to turn the conversation away from the Syrian refugees by pushing the issue of guns and the visa waiver program to the fore, though the measures on guns so far have proved fruitless.

But, that isn't working so well

But Democrats in both chambers said they needed the president to send a message to voters that he is in firm command of the fight against terrorism.  That will require Mr. Obama to do more — and to explain his actions more clearly, they said.

The Democrats are trying to round a square corner and it isn't working well.  That said, a lot could happen between now and the primaries (and the election) and, on the other hand, nothing could happen.  Either way, it will impact the voters.  And it will influence the non-voters, who may become active or may influence their voting friends and neighbors.

Regards  —  Cliff