WORSE AND WORSE – AT 9:48 A.M. ET:  Americans shed blood and treasure in Iraq, and now all our gains are being erased.  The news, day by day, is stunning.  From the Washington Times: 

Sunni radicals with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claim to have taken control of Iraq’s largest hydroelectric dam.

The Mosul Dam, which sits on the Tigris River, could cause damage as far as 280 miles away if ISIL decides to use it as a weapon, experts say.

“It’s a horrendous prospect,” Daniel Pipes, the president of the Middle East Forum, told CNN. “If you control the Mosul Dam, you can threaten just about everybody.”

Another fear is that the dam could break simply due to ISIL’s ignorance of the structure. Business Insider reported Tuesday that the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers believes the dam is “inherently unstable,” increasing the likelihood that the terrorist group may inadvertently bring about a catastrophic flood.

The terrorist group’s claims were confirmed by a commander of Peshmerga Kurdish soldiers who had been defending the structure roughly 30 miles south of Baghdad, CNN reported.

COMMENT:  I'm sure Field Marshal Obama is studying the matter.  And he will study the matter tomorrow as well.

I've heard commentators say that Obama can't do much because the American people are against any further involvement in Iraq.  Well, that may be true, but foreign policy is the area that is always most in need of presidential leadership.  Citizens don't feel its effects each day, as they would with, say, tax policy or the economy.  They need leadership.  If Obama would provide it, he could move public opinion.

Wait a minute.  Maybe we don't want him to provide it.  He'd move public opinion in the wrong direction.

August 6, 2014