THE FIELD MARSHAL SPEAKS – AT 10:09 A.M. ET:  President Obama, renowned for his deep understanding of national security and defense concepts, has declared the Sochi Olympics safe.   We have his wisdom, from London's left-wing Guardian:

President Barack Obama has thrown his support behind Russian security preparations for the Sochi Winter Olympics, disagreeing with several US congressmen who have cautioned families against attending.

Revealing that the US had examined Russia's plans to prevent terrorists disrupting the Games, which start next week, the president was asked whether he would advise friends of his daughters to go.
“I'd tell them that I believe that Sochi is safe and that there are always some risks in these large international gatherings,” he told CNN. “I'm always going to feel even better if inside the United States, because then we have full control over what happens. But the Russian authorities understand the stakes here.”

The State Department has advised athletes to avoid wearing anything that clearly identifies them as American while traveling outside the Olympic Village, and concern about Sochi's proximity to unstable regions in Russia has dominated US media coverage of the games in recent days.

However, Obama, who is not attending the Games after a year of strained political relations with the Kremlin, signalled that he nonetheless felt US security fears were overplayed in comments that amount to the most forthright endorsement yet of Russian preparations by the White House.
“We are co-ordinating with them. We've looked at their plans,” he said. “I think we have a good sense of the security that they're putting in place to protect not only the athletes themselves, but also visitors there.

COMMENT:  You'd think Obama would have learned something in his five disastrous years as president, but his ego, and his leftist approach to Russia and Islamism, overpowers all.  We are getting warnings from every knowledgeable source, including Obama's own State Department. 

We hope nothing happens.  We hope any plot is snuffed out, and we hope potential terrorists are deterred by all the security.  But Obama's almost lighthearted comments belie a lack of seriousness that matches his lack of seriousness about foreign threats generally.

February 1,  2014