Wednesday, June 4, 2014
From: Gary L. Bauer
Obama “Caught Flat-Footed”
We are now four days into the Bergdahl controversy, and the backlash shows no signs of subsiding. This headline says it all: “Prisoner Swap Blows Up On White House.”
The White House thought it had a grand slam on its hands. NBC’s Chuck Todd said this morning that the White House expected “euphoria,” that everyone would “rally around the flag.” Instead, Todd says the Obama White House was “caught flat-footed” by the controversy.
How could that be?
Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters published a brilliant column that debunks the myth that we always try to rescue our troops, no matter the circumstances. Consider this excerpt:
“Our media elite … instantly became experts on military justice. …one talking head after another announced that ‘we always try to rescue our troops, even deserters.’ Uh, no. ‘Save the deserter’ is a recent battle cry of the politically indoctrinated brass. For much of our history, we did make some efforts to track down deserters in wartime. Then we shot or hanged them.”
The bigger point Peters makes is that the Bergdahl controversy underscores how the values and worldview of the left are alien to many Americans in the heartland and to our military personnel. And it goes back to how someone could sit in a church for years with a pastor preaching “God damn America!” and not see a problem.
Evidently, Obama chose to overlook a lot in this case. Time reports that the Obama White House “overrode an existing interagency process charged with debating the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners and dismissed long-standing Pentagon and intelligence community concerns based on Top Secret intelligence about the dangers of releasing the five men.”
The report notes that “Obama’s move was an ultimate victory for those … who had previously argued the military should ‘suck it up and salute.'”
This is not the first time Obama has misplaced his priorities. You may recall that he called in the Pentagon’s top brass and ordered them to promote homosexuality or resign.
The left is at war with all of the things that undergird our military culture. It is pushing homosexuality in the military. It is waging a jihad against expressions of Christian faith in the military. If that’s your worldview, I suppose swapping terrorist leaders for a deserter might make sense.
White House Fires Back
Many of our troops have had enough of this nonsense. Thank God those soldiers who knew Bergdahl are coming forward and telling the truth. Pray that their courage holds up because the White House is furious and it’s firing back.
According to Chuck Todd, White House aides conceded that they expected pushback against the release of the Taliban 5. But Todd says aides told him, “We didn’t know that they were going to Swift Boat Bergdahl.” That’s a reference to the 2004 presidential campaign in which many on the left claim that John Kerry’s military record was unfairly attacked.
Who is “swift boating” Bergdahl? It’s not some “vast right-wing conspiracy.” This is coming from his fellow soldiers who served with him and who knew him — the ones who did not abandon their posts and who put their lives on the line trying to rescue him.
When White House aides complain about the “swift boating” of Bergdahl, they are once again trying to silence dissent, this time by attacking our soldiers — the ones who really did serve with distinction and courage.
Support Erodes On Capitol Hill
Democrats who initially defended the terrorist swap are suddenly silent. The Weekly Standard asked more than a dozen Democratic senators yesterday whether they support this trade. Not one said they do.
Some members of the president’s party are downright critical. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, blasted the release of the Taliban 5 as a “dangerous precedent.” Ruppersberger added, “This puts all Americans at risk throughout the world, including our men and women on the front line … for kidnapping.”
Meanwhile, members of the liberal media are getting frustrated, complaining that the Taliban is being more transparent than the administration.
And one liberal law professor even said, “Barack Obama is really the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be. You know, he’s been allowed to act unilaterally in a way that we’ve fought for decades.”
“Knife In The Back”
Yesterday the Obama Administration announced it would work with the new Palestinian unity government. Why is it a “unity” government? Because the two factions — Fatah and Hamas — are coming together. Hamas is a designated terrorist organization.
Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to America, tweeted that Israel was “deeply disappointed.” One senior Israeli official said the U.S. move was “like a knife in the back.” Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly feels “betrayed and deceived” by the administration.
My friends, I urge you to make every effort to attend Christians United for Israel’s upcoming Washington Summit next month. One day of the summit will be devoted to canvassing Capitol Hill so that CUFI members can urge their elected representatives to stand with Israel. And right now Israel needs reinforcements in Washington!
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