That was then, this is now. Do try to keep up. It's been a year and a half since Obama said that, and he'd be the first to admit that shit has changed quite a bit in the intervening 18 months. Ooh look! What a cute Strawman!
Obama's blithe dismissal of ISIS occured in The New Yorker In the 2012 campaign, Obama spoke not only of killing Osama bin Laden; he also said that Al Qaeda had been “decimated.” I pointed out that the flag of Al Qaeda is now flying in Falluja, in Iraq, and among various rebel factions in Syria; Al Qaeda has asserted a presence in parts of Africa, too. “The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant,” Obama said, resorting to an uncharacteristically flip analogy. “I think there is a distinction between the capacity and reach of a bin Laden and a network that is actively planning major terrorist plots against the homeland versus jihadists who are engaged in various local power struggles and disputes, often sectarian." “Let’s just keep in mind, Falluja is a profoundly conservative Sunni city in a country that, independent of anything we do, is deeply divided along sectarian lines. And how we think about terrorism has to be defined and specific enough that it doesn’t lead us to think that any horrible actions that take place around the world that are motivated in part by an extremist Islamic ideology are a direct threat to us or something that we have to wade into.” Fallujah was overrun by ISIL, calling itself "ISIL". Obama, all seeing and all knowing, regarded them as merely a local threat to people over there. When that blew up in his face he claimed he wasn't talking about the people who took over Fallujah when he was talking about the people who took over Fallujah, he was talking about some other people who weren't taking over Fallujah when he was talking about people taking over Fallujah.
Really? Nothin? I thought that was solid. Shit. I'm thinking it was the strained grammar in sentence two.
No, it's because as was explained in the New Yorker article, he didn't at that time really differentiate ISIL from al-Qaeda, even when he was talking about ISIL. In the 2012 campaign, Obama spoke not only of killing Osama bin Laden; he also said that Al Qaeda had been “decimated.” I pointed out that the flag of Al Qaeda is now flying in Falluja, in Iraq, and among various rebel factions in Syria; Al Qaeda has asserted a presence in parts of Africa, too. “The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant,” Obama said, resorting to an uncharacteristically flip analogy. Note that for some time ISIL flew the al Qaeda flag over Fallujah.
You must be thinking of a different interview than the one you posted. It's even explicit in just the part that you quoted. Or do you think that putting on a Laker jersey turns gturner in to Kobe Bryant? By the way, you're bolding is hilarious, as if that's supposed to make people confuse Obama with the interviewer. Your lies fail as usual.
Ah. I see. So he didn't actually mention ISIL/ISIS by name. Gotcha. Wait, so your saying that he didn't differentiate ISIL/ISIS from Al Qaeda, and yet also claim that he did differentiate ISIL/ISIS from Al Qaeda when he referred to the former as the JV version of the latter. Which is it? And, of course, nothing you've said disputes the notion that "that was then, and this is now", and that times and situations change over time.
So Dylan roof caused the removal of confederate flags and dukes of hazard re runs Perhaps this asshole can cause the removal of mosques and al-jazeera Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Sentence two is an example of perfect grammar that nonetheless derails just about every reader who comes across it. But of such a grammar usage you'll never hear me speak badly.
That's exactly what Obama says he's doing, and that's the whole freaking point of what he said. Read the quote. We feared a resurgent al Qaeda, able to strike us again as they did on 9/11. Obama is arguing that even though the people who took Fallujah claim to be al Qaeda, they're just a JV team. Just because they put on a Lakers jersey doesn't make them Kobe Bryant.
And? The people who took Fallujah do claim to be Al Qaeda, right? And just cause they claim that Al Qaeda (analog to wearing Laker's jersey) doesn't actually make them Al Qaeda (analog to Kobe Bryant), now does it? And again, the info you linked is 18 months old, so "that was then, this is now" still applies. A lot of things can happen in 18 months. What part of this simple concept is beyond your ability to comprehend?
No, they're more like LeBron James. Al Qaeda had to operate in the shadows and kept its networks small. ISIS took over the better part of two countries, recruits tens of thousands of soldiers, operates tanks, artillery, and air defenses, and is expanding into places like Libya and Afghanistan.
So, putting on a Laker's jersey made them a completely different guy than Kobe, on an entirely different team than Kobe? Got it. Great analogy. And supports what he said, 100%. Wearing that Lakers jersey didn't make them Kobe. So, Al Qaeda stayed small, but at the same time was sufficiently huge enough to take over two countries, under its very high-profile pseudonym of ISIL/ISIS. Again: small and in the shadows, or huge and flaunting its power. It can't be both. It's gotta be one or the other. So make up your mind. Which is it?
Ask Obama. He's the one that dismissed them as a JV team when he was asked about the group that took over Fallujah.
Dude, have you seen america? Anyone around you could go nuts and chew your face off because Bath salts or something. Seriously, you have large vehicles full of children hummin down the road at about 80 or 90 miles per hour while the driver is texting and reading her email. You have cops killing people over selling a cigarrette. There are people baking meth in their fucking cars and campers and blowing the fuck up. Pay fucking attention, ISIS is not the biggest threat in your life. It is not even close.
The key word there, I believe, is "remnants". As in, what was left over of a "decimated" Al Qaeda. We're still talking an 18 month old interview about events of two years prior to that. So yet again I'm forced to use a phrase I am loathe to use, yet which is wholly appropriate: That was then, this is now.
That decimated remnants of Al Qaeda now has control over a lot of territory now. Face it. Obama fucked up in that regard. The JV team is probably a bigger threat to the ME than Al Qaeda ever was. Even Al Qaeda won't have anything to do with them because they're too brutal.
Limiting guns won't stop these kind of ISIS attacks on recruiting stations. The ISIS guy would get to the recruiting station and realize he doesn't have an assault rifle. So he'll go in and ask the recruiter "If I join up will I get an assault rifle?" And they'll say "You will. Yes indeedy!" Six month later he comes back with his government issued M-4 and blows them away. We can't win this one at home.
That's another way of saying Obama was wrong isn't it? If 20 years ago, I said, "This World Wide Web thing is just a passing fad", wouldn't I be wrong now?
