Shortly after Obama admitted to the world he has no strategy [9]how to deal with ISIS, about two weeks after the "humanitarian" bombing of Iraq started, he rushed into a meeting of his National Security Council. Two and a half hours later, the meeting has finished and we hope the president finally does have a strategy, one that isn't determined solely by Qatari natural gas pipeline interests.
Here, courtesy of Mark Knoller [10], is who was present at the NSC meeting (and how):
WH posts list of participants in Pres Obama's National Security Council meeting this afternoon/evening on Iraq, ISIL and Syria. Ran about 2½ hours.
- The Vice President (via secure video)
- Secretary of State John Kerry (via secure video)
- Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (via secure video)
- Attorney General Eric Holder
- Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson (via secure video)
- White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough
- National Security Advisor Susan Rice
- U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power (via secure video)
- White House Counsel Neil Eggleston
- Director of National Intelligence James Clapper
- Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey (via secure video)
- Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Winnefeld
- Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Matthew Olsen
- U.S. Central Command Commander Lloyd Austin (via secure video)
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shaun Donovan
- Deputy National Security Advisor Antony Blinken
- Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco
- Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Caroline Atkinson
- Deputy Secretary of State William Burns
- White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and Gulf Region Philip Gordon
- Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs Katie Fallon
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran Brett McGurk
- U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Robert Stephen Beecroft (via secure video)
- Suzanne George, Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council
Meanwhile, we must admit that we doubt Obama was honest when he said there is no strategy. Alas, the White House has a very clear strategy of what to do in Iraq. Here it is:
1. Cite humanitarian crisis as excuse to intervene
2. Drop a nominal amount of humanitarian aid
3. Drop a lot of bombs
4. More bombs— Charles Davis (@charliearchy) August 28, 2014 [11]
