THREE MARTINI LUNCH: FEBRUARY 19, 2015

National Review's Jim Geraghty and Radio America's Greg Corombos weigh in on current events. Today's topics: Hawaii Dem Rep. Tulsi Gabbard rips Obama's vague statements on violent extremism, Jeb Bush wonders why people are worried about the NSA, and Luis Gutierrez promises immigrant militancy to fight for amnesty.



The Meaningless White House Conference on Extremism: Refusing to Name Who is Guilty

Has there ever been an American president as inept and clueless as Barack Obama? It was not so long ago that he said ISIL - as he calls ISIS - was nothing but a JV team, and that al-Qaeda was defeated and in retreat.

He responded to ISIS's recent barbarities by arguing that the Crusades proved Christianity was once just as evil. No worries - they got over it. Strangely, he has continued in W's footsteps by insisting there is only a war on terror, and not one against radical Islam. Obama, like Bush, refuses to state who is guilty.

His views have been reinforced by Eric Holder, who said:

We spend more time, more time, talking about what you call it, as opposed to what do you do about it. You know? I mean really. If Fox didn't talk about this they'd have nothing else to talk about. You know, radical Islam, Islamic extremism, you know … I'm not sure an awful lot is gained by saying it. It doesn't have an impact on our military posture …

Those damn talking heads on Fox News. If not for them, no one would be talking about radical Islamic extremism. As for tactics and military strategy, the same president who said last year that the Syrian rebels should not be armed because they were disorganized, ineffectual, and we would not know in whose hands the arms would end up, is now floating the idea of arming them. This might have helped three years ago, but it may be too little, too late. And at the same time, the promise to arm the Kurds has been slow and bogged down in red tape...

Also read:

It's a Conference About Nothing

Obama's ISIS Strategy Is Even Worse Than You Think