Straight From The Hart

My column from today's LDR: President Obama admitted this week that he has no strategy for dealing with ISIS. That means he never has had a strategy for dealing with them, he’s just been leading us on. In the meantime, the membership of ISIS continues to grow, crushing everything that gets in their way, whether it be cities or historic monuments or people. The number of fighters in the ranks of ISIS as of this time is all over the place, ranging from the CIA’s estimate of 31,500 to Kurdish president Massoud Barzani’s estimate of 200,000. Obama keeps passing the buck to the Pentagon, but Pentagon spokesmen say they are waiting on the president. And rightly so. I guess it’s my Bible study training from my years as a pastor, but I always go back to the origins of words to get an accurate meaning. “Strategy” in the Greek language means “the art of being a troop leader; the office of general or commander, and refers to a high level plan of achieving one or more goals under conditions

The United States Army’s Special Operation Command (USASOC) will begin a two month multi-state military exercise in several states in the Southwest, including Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and California. The actual number and list of states has changed from time to time. The operation will begin on July 15 and continue through September 15, and will be conducted by members of USASOC and service members from the Green Berets, Navy SEALS, Air Force Special Operation troops, Marines Special Operation troops, and conventional army infantry. Approximately 1200 troops will be participating. The exercise, known as Jade Helm 15, will take place primarily in Texas because it requires large areas of undeveloped land as well as access to towns. Texas also possesses the kind of “unique terrain” in which soldiers operating overseas might find themselves, according to the USASOC. The public can expect nothing much different from their day-to-day activities since much of