Domestic Criminal Matter or Act of War

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	Domestic Criminal Matter or Act of War? We've also since learned that the United States failed in a secret attempt to rescue Foley and other Americans held by ISIS. The operation took place earlier this summer and failed when the hostages were not present at the location of the raid. There is believed to be at least four other Americans being held by ISIS. Why would the administration decide to leak this report now other than to try and save some face for the president? In addition, we also learned that the United States refused to pay a $100 million ransom demanded by ISIS. Apparently we will pay ransoms to retrieve alleged deserters (Bowe Bergdahl) but not for other Americans. Since the execution of Foley, the U.S. has carried out 14 more airstrikes in Iraq. But where does our strategy go from here? We have an expanding ISIS force in the region. We also now have ISIS killing an American and threatening to kill more. What, exactly, will our response be beyond empty words from Barack Obama? That's been a big problem with Obama is that he says all the right things, but then little actually gets accomplished. Will ISIS be yet another example of this lack of leadership? It's interesting to note Obama's message yesterday during his brief remarks: “ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.” One could say that ISIS takes the Islamic faith to an extreme, but at the end of the day they are doing what they are doing in the name of a radicalized version of their religion. ISIS itself has declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, which is an Islamic state. This falls into a pattern throughout the Obama administration of shying away from criticism of those who act in the name of radical Islam. Our efforts in the the war on terror became “overseas contingencies.” A shooting at Fort Hood in the name of “Allahu Akbar” is designated as “workplace violence.” The 9/11 Commission report states , “The terrorists were at war with us, but we were not yet at war with them.” At what point will the president come around and be clear about what it is we are really facing here? Dick Cheney told us last night, “The intelligence is there for all to see. There's no question about what's happening. But this president and the people around him refuse to recognize it and certainly refuse to deal with it.” Now we are learning that the United States Justice Department is opening up a criminal investigation into the execution of James Foley. These are radical foreign terrorists, yet again the Obama administration has seemingly decided this is a domestic criminal matter rather than an act of war.

Bailey Blog: August 22nd
Michaela is Sean's Executive Assistant and writes a weekly blog on her adventures with her dog Bailey. You can tweet her @MichaelaStracar.

It only took a few days, but I immediately fell in love with Bailey. Everything I had previously thought about owning a puppy has been completely changed. Bailey and I are inseparable, and he has become my best friend. His little body and big floppy ears are the cutest thing that I have ever seen. I didn't know the slightest bit of information about beagles, so I thought taking care of Bailey would be a piece of cake...read more.