Comparing Resolve: Jordan Upstages U.S.

After King Abdullah ibn al-Hussein of Jordan was confronted with a video showing the Islamic State burning a Jordanian pilot alive, the monarch’s anger was palpable. The country immediately executed the Al Qaeda operatives ISIS had hoped to get in trade for the pilot, upped the amount of money they were spending on coalition support, and engaged in a stunning round of airstrikes against the group.

Perhaps most strikingly, there were even rumors that Abdullah, who had pilot training, would personally participate in the strikes. Though those rumors turned out to be false, the mere fact that the possibility existed is remarkable. There was once a time when a country’s leaders rode into battle alongside the cavalry. Those times are long gone, but Abdullah’s righteous fury against the Islamic State is to be commended. It’s this kind of retaliatory resolve that is needed to blast these psychos back to the stone age.

Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday when the video was released, Abdullah quoted Unforgiven, telling the world that Jordan would go after ISIS until it ran “out of fuel and bullets.”

Rep. Duncan Hunter, stating the obvious, remarked: “King Abdullah is not President Obama.”

Boy, you can say that again.

After ISIS released a video last August in which they murdered American journalist James Foley, Obama took to the microphones. “The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. We will be vigilant and we will be relentless…to see that justice is done.”

Obama’s idea of vigilance and justice involved ducking questions, hopping into his motorcade, and driving directly to the golf course where he whiled away the afternoon. Later, he apologized for the disturbing contrast, saying that he should have been more aware of the “optics.” In other words, the only thing wrong with his golf trip was that the media caught him and made the juxtaposition. I suppose if he retreated to a secret arcade and spent the day playing Street Fighter, it would have been just fine.

If that incident had been an anomaly, it wouldn’t even be worth mentioning. Unfortunately, it is a representative example of this president, who has proven time and again that he doesn’t have the heart for war. If Obama had been president during the rise of Hitler, the Nazis would have controlled half of Europe before he could be convinced to do anything about it. Instead, he would be too busy reminding Americans that the majority of Germans were peaceful, loving people.

What’s developing in Iraq and Syria is the kind of evil that only comes along once in a generation. Evil of this sort can only be defeated by force. It can only be defeated by strong leaders who are willing to make sacrifices. That the King of Jordan embodies that kind of leader more than the president of the United States is a national shame.