President Barack Obama speaks during a remembrance ceremony to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon at the Pentagon Memorial, Sept. 11, 2013. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Syria Crisis Reveals Uneasy Relationship Between Obama, Nation’s Military Leaders -- Washington Post
The Syrian crisis over the past few weeks has thrust President Obama into a role in which at times he has seemed uneasy: that of commander in chief.
The prospect of an attack to punish Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons exposed the Nobel Peace laureate’s strained and somewhat tentative relationship with the military. His dramatic oscillation from detachment on Syria to the brink of military action, with him ultimately settling for a potential diplomatic solution, has unsettled many people in uniform.
Obama’s two former defense secretaries weighed in on the controversy Tuesday night, saying they disagreed with the president’s decision to seek congressional authorization for a strike. While Leon E. Panetta said a cruise missile attack would have been worthwhile, Robert M. Gates said the plan was akin to “throwing gasoline on an extremely complex fire in the Middle East.”
“To blow a bunch of stuff up over a couple of days to underscore or validate a point or principle is not a strategy,” Gates said at a forum in Dallas in which the two appeared.
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My Comment: President Obama is the Commander in Chief .... the military will have to follow his lead. He has the power and authority .... and if the military is uncomfortable and uneasy with President Obama's leadership style and the decisions that he makes .... short of resigning their options are .... to put it bluntly .... zero.
Update: Commanders-in-Chief Should Command -- Max Boot, Commentary
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