Islamic Militants Present Direct Challenge to Obama
By Kenneth T. Walsh
Sept. 3, 2014 | 7:20 a.m. EDT
The beheading of a second American by Islamic extremists is a direct challenge to President Barack Obama's restrained approach to the world's ongoing crises. He will be under increasing pressure to take more dramatic action against the extremists, which he has been reluctant to do because of the delicacy of the situation in the Middle East and because the ramifications of harsher military steps could be negative to long-range U.S. interests and stir up anti-American feelings.
Obama appears to be edging toward a more muscular response, but in a very incremental way. He has authorized the Pentagon to send an additional 350 U.S. troops to Iraq to protect "diplomatic facilities and personnel" during the ongoing civil war, an administration spokesman said. This brings total U.S. troops in Iraq "augmenting diplomatic security" to more than 800, U.S. officials said. But the spokesman added: "These additional forces will not serve in a combat role."
At a news conference in Estonia Wednesday, Obama said the United States will not back down. "Whatever these murderers think they will achieve by murdering innocents like Steven, they have already failed," Obama said. "We will not be intimidated. Their horrific acts only unite us."
He was referring to the beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff, which was confirmed this week by the U.S. government. The murder came two weeks after journalist James Foley was killed in a similar manner.
Obama said the United States would build a coalition to "degrade and destroy" the extremists but he didn't give any specifics about his next steps.
There is a drumbeat of opinion urging Obama to do more to counter the Islamic militants, who have made serious gains in their offensives against the Iraq government based in Baghdad. The United States is using air strikes against the militants, but it's considered doubtful that this limited response can be more than a palliative.
The Associated Press
A video screengrab released by Islamic State militants Tuesday shows Steven Sotloff before he was beheaded.
Obama is also under increasing pressure to take stronger steps against Russia for the Kremlin's intervention in Ukraine. One of Obama's goals in his trip to Estonia and to a NATO summit this week in Wales is to reassure U.S. allies that the administration will stand with them if Moscow poses a theat. Obama has begun to implement a series of economic and other sanctions against Moscow as punishment for its aggression in Ukraine.
But the latest Pew Research Center poll finds that 54 percent of Americans believe Obama is "not tough enough" on national security, up from 38 percent during his first few months in office.
Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, recently said Obama "is very cautious" in dealing with both the turmoil in Iraq and with Russian aggression in Ukraine--"maybe, in this instance too cautious," Feinstein added.
Obama is running into trouble on many fronts. The latest bad omen is the new Field Poll in California, which has been a bastion of support for him. But now, only 45 percent of California voters approve of his job performance, a decline from 50 percent during the past year. This is a record low for Obama in California. Nationally, his job approval rating is 42 percent, according to the Gallup Poll.
