While Syria and Iraq burn, will Obama keep looking at his dwindling options?

One would have to be brain dead to NOT feel empathy for the millions of innocent Syrians and Iraqis who are suffering under the boot of tyrannical regimes like Syria’s Assad and Iraq’s Maliki. Even worse, civilians overrun by the fanatical Islamists ransacking and pillaging both countries are committing the most horrible crimes against humanity imaginable: Decapitation, mutilation, random murder, rape, torture. You name it, if it’s barbaric and medieval – these so-called Islamists are doing it under the name of Allah.

It is in my humble opinion that President Obama’s declaration that “America will no longer be the world’s policeman and is tired of war” – as well as his stumbling in the 2009 Iranian revolution, backing the wrong horse in the ouster of long-time Egyptian ally Mubarak, and the infamous “erased Syrian Red-line” are the main contributors to the chaos in the world today. I agree that U.S. boots should not be on the ground around the world, but at least we can be as consistently supportive with our allies as Russia and Iran are to their respective allies Syria and Lebanon.

Yes, our so-called allies in Europe need to step up their game in sharing the burden of fighting the spread of violent Islamism, as their proximity and large Muslim populations put them in the line of fire should the fight jump across the Mediterranean and find a foothold. The Russians understand the threat and dealt with it harshly in Chechnya, and are still dealing with it today. The Chinese are now fighting a small, but growing Islamist threat within their borders. Africa has been suffering for decades from numerous rampaging Islamist tribes slaughtering thousands, kidnaping hundreds of woman and children, and raping at will.

America expects our President to lead from the front, not hide under his desk, play golf, or take naps while our diplomats burn, our allies are getting overrun, and our enemies go from strength to strength as they consolidate their power. America expects our president to be the moral compass for the world. It surely won’t come from the U.N.

I would like to see President Obama leave his political correctness behind and come down clearly against ALL forms of violent Islamism. I would like to see President Obama lead an effort to create enough multilateral support - without limits - for the locals populations be armed and stop the current advance of Islamism in Syria and Iraq, as well as other areas where they have gone unchallenged.

I know that there are those who will want to divert the argument by blaming President Bush for this chaos. The first Bush US invasion of Iraq was, in my opinion, done correctly – he left Saddam’s army intact. George W. Bush’s mistake was following the intelligence community’s advice in disbanding the Iraqi army. None of that matters anymore. Obama now has to “own up” to his handling of the aftermath.

We are being penny wise and dollar foolish to think that we are saving money and lives by not engaging the enemy on their turf. They will get stronger and more lethal, and they will continue to inch closer to our national interests, be it our bases, our access to oil, or our allies. We will eventually have to engage them, and hopefully not before it is too late.