"The error in appointing an incompetent chieftain is in leaving him in a position of authority over other Huns. " Wess Roberts, "Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun”
August 6, 2014
By: Linda Case Gibbons
"Bad guys” don’t fall into the role. They choose it.
Attila the Hun decided he wanted to rule the world when he was a young boy.
And he did.
He conquered most of what was the world back in 434 A.D., by looting, pillaging and laying claim to whatever he wanted. The empire he created stretched from present-day Germany, through Russia and Poland and included much of south-eastern Europe.
Now, some 1,500 years later his very name can still command fear, and for good reason.
Attila’s army, 100,000 strong, wore the skins of animals, ate raw meat and were brutal warriors. Terrorized villagers hearing of Attila’s approach abandoned everything they had and fled without a fight.
But just because Attila was "bad,” didn’t mean he wasn’t "good.”
He is remembered as a "good” leader because he was successful in carrying out what we would call a "bad” plan to secure world dominance.
It may not be a plan we would call admirable, or what a "good” person would do, but Attila had goals that he made happen. And he was transparent about what he intended to do.
Not all bad guys are that transparent and especially not all good guys.
So who would believe that we would see an army like Attila’s again in this day and age?
But we are.
ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is a violent group that has been growing in strength and numbers for more than a year, according to U.S. security sources, and now is a full blown army.
ISIS imposes its will upon innocent people, threatening, killing, beheading and crucifying men, women and children.
Its goal is to vanquish all "infidels” and establish a worldwide caliphate. This week ISIS told the world what is in store for the infidels in the United States.
"We will, God willing, raise the flag of Allah in the White House,” ISIS spokesman, Abu Mosa said.
So ISIS is the "Kobe Bryant” of the world after all. Not j. v.
How did our president miss that one?
And how has he let it get this bad?
To know the answer to that question, look at what our president says in the books he’s written and in the speeches he gives.
Listen to what he says when he apologizes to America’s enemies for an America he believes needs to be apologized for.
Watch what he does. He releases Muslim terrorists from Guantanamo, but leaves an American Marine languishing in a Mexican jail;
He leaves an American pastor in an Iranian prison for a year;
He forgets about America’s friend, Pakistani physician, Dr. Shakil Afridi who helped Obama "get” bin Laden, then was sentenced for 33 years in jail for treason;
And he does nothing to secure the release of American Alan Gross, who was sentenced to prison for 15 years in a Cuban prison.
He consistently favors the bad guys over the good guys. When scandals erupt in his administration, on his watch, he rewards the wrong-doers.
He places American citizens at risk by cavalierly and brazenly assisting illegal immigrants with an open border, dismisses scandals in his administration, and scrubs our language of all references to "Muslim terrorists.”
You can tell a lot about a man by what he does, but even more for what he does not do.
While ISIS pillages and loots, busy implementing their plan, our president goes on vacation.
At every turn in America’s road, his plan for America places self- interest and politics above what is best for America.
That plan isn’t our plan. His priorities aren’t our priorities. His allies are not our allies. And it looks like our Constitution isn’t his, either.
For nearly seven years, Americans have been critical of him for what they perceive as dereliction of his presidential duties.
It looks to them like he is kicking up his heels on the golf course while the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is being evacuated.
It looks to them like he is biking and eating ice cream cones on Martha’s Vineyard while ISIS continues to grow and is now turning its eyes toward the U.S.
But he’s not derelict. He’s just carrying out his plan. And in that plan, golf and ice cream cones, global and national emergencies fit together just fine.
Did this contribute to the rise of ISIS? Should you blame our president for not being vigilant, for not acting more quickly on foreign affairs, for not focusing on ISIS as the grave threat it is to our country before now?
You could say maybe he thought, "They’re Muslims; how could they be dangerous?”
Or, maybe he just didn’t know.
The mainstream media he relies on for news about his administration and foreign affairs doesn’t talk about things like that. It’s too busy defending this president and he needs a lot of defending.
Remember back before the 2012 election when the president took credit for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq? Well, this week, with ISIS on the move, he said it wasn’t his decision. It was Iraq’s, because they didn’t want our troops to remain there.
At least he didn’t blame Bush.
So what do you think ISIS thinks of the United States’ leadership when it sees the leader of the Free World blame someone else for his decision?
Do they sense weakness? Does that weakness place us in danger?
What do you think Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, is thinking? Is he laughing up his sleeve because our president released him from Camp Bucca in Iraq in 2009?
And don’t you think that even Attila the Hun would have recognized the bad "optics” all of this presented?
There was Obama, in a hurry to sandwich in the news of American air strikes against ISIS to the American people before he hopped on a helicopter ready to whisk him off to his vacation.
His bags were packed and he was ready to go. And go he did.
What do you think ISIS thought of that?
I don’t think those boys even know what the word "vacation” means. Do you?
Hold the line, America.