President Obama is fond of lofty rhetoric proclaiming peace and victory in various aspects of foreign policy, but the long wars of his administration have continued despite his various pronouncements.
The week of the Paris terrorist attacks by the Islamic State terror group Nov. 13 that killed 130 people in Paris, Obama told ABC that the organization was "contained." Days after the attack, he faced broad criticism after insisting the U.S. had the "right strategy" and that he had not underestimated the group he once dismissed as a mere "JV team" impersonating NBA players. The Weekly Standard reported:
Obama’s confidence was misplaced. On June 29, 2014, three years to the day after Brennan mocked the idea of a caliphate as "a feckless delusion" and six months after Obama dismissed ISIS as "JV," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi named himself "Caliph Ibrahim" and declared the vast swath of territory ISIS had come to control "the caliphate."
The threat of IS forced Obama to break an earlier promise that he made about never putting American boots on the ground in Syria, announcing earlier in November that the U.S. would deploy 50 special operations forces there to assist others fighting IS.
Obama insisted repeatedly that the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would come "to a responsible end" under his watch. But in Iraq, as IS seized large swathes of territory both there and in Syria in 2014, Obama had to backtrack. He strangely claimed to reporters that the pullout of troops was not his decision, despite that very promise being a re-election campaign applause line throughout 2012.
With regards to Afghanistan, Obama was forced to announce in October he would keep 5,500 troops there after the Taliban made vast gains against outmatched Afghan troops.
Obama also often said al Qaeda was "on the run" and "on the path to defeat," but it too remains a global threat. IS is an off-shoot of al Qaeda's organization in Iraq, and its affiliates have continued to carry out attacks during the Obama administration, including last week's assault on a Mali hotel that led to 170 people being held hostage.
The Weekly Standard wrote of Obama's prognostications:
Al Qaeda is not decimated. ISIS is not jayvee. Iran is not our friend. Terrorists sent by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are not isolated extremists. Attempted bombings by operatives dispatched by the Pakistani Taliban are not one-off attacks. Planned assaults on American facilities overseas are not protests. Groups blowing up airliners are not contained. September 11 was not an episode. Mass casualty attacks are not setbacks.
The long war is not over.