Philadelphia Foreign Policy Expert Critical Of Pres. Obama's ISIL Plan: 'See Who Wins In The End'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall talked to foreign policy analyst Ed Turzanski on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about President Obama's address to the nation Wednesday, which was about the threats posed by ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
Turzanski On Pres. Obama's Speech On ISIL
Turzanski, the John Templeton Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a Political Science Professor at LaSalle University, said the speech was politically motivated.
"If the two journalists who were beheaded had not suffered that fate and American public opinion did not turn the way it has just in the last two weeks, then that speech would likely not have been given…The lack of detail speaks to that and also the brevity of the speech. The President is a man given to much longer orations, and he just didn't look comfortable giving it."
He believes the President Obama is disengaged from the world stage and only concerned with his domestic agenda.
"The President's inclination has been to do domestic policy. Foreign policy bothers him. He doesn't want to be part of it and, quite frankly, things haven't worked out the way he hoped they would. The Arab Spring turned out to be something that was much more messy and complicated. Yes, he pulled troops out of Iraq, he's pulling them out of Afghanistan, but that had consequences."
Turzanski warned that the wars in the Middle East will continue regardless of Americans desire to engage.
"You may decide you don't want to fight anymore, but the enemy gets a vote. If ISIS says 'I'm coming after you,' and you're asking yourself the question, 'Is this a war or some sort of different operation?' You keep on having your debate, they're going to keep on killing and see who wins in the end."
