Seriously, what is the man thinking?
We do not criticize a general each and every time he makes a tactical decision that tragically and perhaps preventably leads to the loss of some of his troops. We must not do so with our appointed officials, or our top civilian leaders in this country either.
One, a general making tactical decisions is screwing up big time. If the front has collapsed and he needs to organize the defense of his command post, he's screwed up the operational and strategic decisions.
More to the point, I do excuse mistakes in war. I've explained that my main problem with the president, whether on the Benghazi issue or the war in general, is that President Obama isn't leading us in a war. He's checking off boxes without leading and views those checked boxes (Osama dead, out of Iraq, Khaddafi dead, kill list, Afghanistan surge achieved and now ending) as a shield against criticism and an opportunity to focus on screwing up our domestic life with his social-democratic ideas.
The image of our president blaming a video, denying we have murderous enemies ready to kill us, and claiming the administration has done just fine contrary to the reality is not something we should let go without figuring out why the administration has acted the way it has.
I'll rally around the flag in adversity when I think that my president is waving our flag in battle. Mistakes do happen. That's war. Our enemy is trying to kill us and sometimes they'll succeed even if we don't make mistakes. Stuff happens.
But one thing that the Benghazi incident highlights is the utter failure of this president to learn from experience:
Part of Obama’s failure may be due to lack of experience; he had never been exposed to the challenges of international politics.
Yet the real reason for Obama’s failure may be his fantasy view of the world in which his personal charm and knowledge are vastly overrated.
Nearly four years of experience as commander in chief haven't helped. His fantasy view of the world still remains strong. The Benghazi attack showed that the president really believes one more apology could make things right with Islamists.
Even President Carter was capable of learning when his fantasy world was hit hard enough by the Soviet Union.
When I think President Obama sees himself as a war president who'd never miss an intelligence briefing because he wants to win, I'll have his back when mistakes are made. Until then, dissent is the highest form of patriotism, right? Or at least it was from 2001 to 2008.
