Confronting Reality
The fall of Ramadi to ISIS militants and Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is bringing President Obama's foreign policy failures into sharp focus. Here's the reality that the next president will inherit the day he walks into the Oval Office.
First is a nuclear-armed Iran. The Iranian regime is led by Shiite Muslims with an apocalyptic vision. Christians often say, "Please come, Jesus." Radical Shiites say, "Please come, Mahdi." That's a reference to the 12th imam, an Islamic messiah.
They believe they can cause the Mahdi to come to Earth by bringing about the apocalypse, by waging war against infidels -- Christians, Jews and even other Muslims.
Tehran has proxies in Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen. Dealing with the radical Shiites in the future will be more costly than it would have been at any time in the past six years.
The other great threat comes from radical Sunnis. ISIS is the public face of that Islamic movement. The Shiites already have their caliphate. It's called Iran. ISIS is trying to build its caliphate based on the teachings of Sunni Islam, and it is metastasizing all over the world.
Authorities in Malaysia have arrested more than 100 people for being part of an ISIS cell. Dozens of Malaysian military officers are believed to be ISIS sympathizers. Police arrested ten people in Canada who were trying to join ISIS. The movement is thriving throughout Africa.
It rejects every concept of decency. There are credible reports from all over ISIS controlled territories that aid workers seldom see girls over the age of nine. Why? Because ISIS takes the girls at 10 and hands them over to their "soldiers" who do to them whatever they want.
ISIS is in Syria. ISIS is in Iraq. ISIS is in Libya. ISIS is in Malaysia. How about ISIS in Michigan, Ohio and Texas?
Our own government is tracking ISIS sympathizers in every state of the union. At this very moment a radical Sunni Muslim infrastructure is being built within our own country.
The fall of Ramadi triggered a wave of refugees into Baghdad. Iraqi officials shut the roads into the capital. Why? Because they couldn't distinguish the refugees from potential ISIS fighters. As callous as that may sound, at least the Iraqi officials had the common sense to control Baghdad's borders!
How will our next commander-in-chief handle these challenges? Reality demands our attention. The next president's legacy, whether we like it or not, may well be decided on the world stage. And I didn't even mention a resurgent Russia or an increasingly aggressive China.
Misplaced Priorities
Here's a perfect example of the left's misplaced priorities. President Obama delivered the commencement address to the Coast Guard Academy today. His remarks were dominated by one subject -- climate change. He said:
"I'm here today to say that climate change constitutes a serious threat to global security, an immediate risk to our national security. And make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country. And so we need to act -- and we need to act now."
The words "radical Islam" did not pass his lips.
Ayatollah Says "No" -- Again
As the world's major powers begin another round of talks with Iran regarding its nuclear weapons program, the tyrants in Tehran continue to reject essential elements of the deal.
For obvious reasons, one of the most critically important components is inspections -- access to nuclear scientists and the ability to conduct unannounced inspections of suspected research sites. So consider what Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today on state television:
"The impudent and brazen enemy expects that we allow them to talk to our scientists and researchers . . . but no such permission will be allowed. No inspection of any military site or interview with nuclear scientists will be allowed. I will not allow foreigners to interview -- which is tantamount to interrogation -- the prominent beloved scientists and sons of this nation."
This is at least the third time this month that the ayatollah or another top official has declared Iran's military facilities off limits to international inspections. But this is non-negotiable. Without intrusive inspections any deal is meaningless.
State Secrets
Today's Wall Street Journal reports that former top aides at the State Department routinely quashed Freedom of Information Act requests in order to keep "politically sensitive" information secret.
The report specifically cites the influence of Cheryl Mills, the chief of staff to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who "demanded" that some requested documents related to the Keystone XL pipeline be withheld. "After Ms. Mills began scrutinizing documents, the State Department's disclosure of records related to Keystone fell off sharply," the Journal writes.
Mills' actions contradict the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act, which is to guarantee public access to government records and prevent undue political interference. FOIA experts told the Journalthat each agency employs FOIA staff in order to provide for impartial decisions.
By the way, it seems that scrutinizing documents is Ms. Mills' specialty. You may recall that it was Cheryl Mills who allegedly directed State Department staff to scrub documents related to the Benghazi attack.
Whether it's the IRS, the NSA, the Secret Service, the State Department or the VA, rogue officials must be held accountable for their actions. It's no wonder that the latest Gallup poll finds that dissatisfaction with government tops the list of voters' concerns.