obamagolf
“Too Bad About James Foley But I’m Over It.”

By Arthur Piccolo

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 22, 2014: We are back on Martha’s Vineyard again this week.

Why not? President Obama is still there. And it’s another murder that brings us back there. No, no one is getting murdered on Martha’s Vineyard. All you rich vacationers can rest easy and enjoy yourselves on the Vineyard!

And you can keep playing golf just like Barack Obama every day. Well maybe not just like Barack Obama – he gets the Presidential treatment. Even as Michael Brown far away in Ferguson, Missouri, and now James Foley in the Middle East are getting murdered. Sorry no golf for them.  Maybe in Heaven!

The point is that after making his sad heartfelt statements to the cameras last week about Brown and this week about Foley, in less than a half hour President Obama has shaken off his “sadness” and he was back on the golf course.

Yes here comes the chorus again – Obama deserves his vacation. Yes I know he lives such a tough life just like Michael Brown and James Foley. Right!

The real point is that Obama is about as insincere as they come.

As far as the murder of James Foley by terrorists who chopped off his head this week and recorded it on YouTube for all to see, there is another larger story just as I raised last week in Obama’s America about Brown.

President Obama made a conscious decision that James Foley’s life was not worth saving. Rather Obama made a political decision – it was better for him and Democrats to let Foley die and he was right to the extent that the entire media and most Americans agree by their lack of concern.

In this case I am turning to The New York Times, my “partner,” who I let take a vacation these last two episodes. This time I will do something unusual – quote myself as published in the Times as a comment about their story regarding Foley’s murder by  ISIS.

Here is what I wrote today and contrary to most of the other 910 comments posted to this story – maybe that is why my comment got only one recommendation from Time’s readers. Here is my comment …

“Let’s examine this knee jerk view of the Administration and backed by many reader comments here that we should never negotiate with terrorists.

“First is the view that if we pay ransom we will encourage them to take more hostages. Where is the proof? Terrorist take hostages no matter what. It is one way you wage a guerilla operation.

“Second, when we try to rescue hostages we put the lives of many more Americans at risk in operations that often fail. And if figures were made available of the true full cost of a rescue mission don’t be surprised if it exceeds the cost of the ransom demanded.

“The fact is James Foley is dead and the U.S. has gained nothing from his death while the terrorists have energized their base with their brutal defiant act against the U.S. and viewed by millions on the Internet.

“Even the Israelis who most Americans praise as the best nation at fighting terrorists the Israelis negotiate with terrorists for the lives of Israelis.

“Finally is there any doubt that any reader here were their son or daughter a hostage would NOT be saying go head and sacrifice my son or daughter. Not negotiating with terrorists is more important to me than my child’s life.”

So here is the point. This “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” BS Obama “forgot” to mention during his statement on Martha’s Vineyard praising Foley’s bravery and his parents loss before rushing back to play golf.

If Obama had any integrity, which he doesn’t, he would have said to James Foley’s parents and America: “ I allowed your son to be murdered because there is a more important issue here, I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

The central point here is what casually seems like such a correct decision isn’t as I wrote in the Times today, and which you can read above, but it is the terrorists who got value from murdering James Foley not the United States.

Yes, indeed if it was just money, ISIS would have accepted as they did to release a Frenchman who Foley was put in cell with for months and who is now back home and safe and with his family and with his whole life ahead of him; YES I certainly would have paid the ransom.

But we will never know exactly what ISIS would have accepted because President Obama “does not negotiate with terrorists.” At this point I am also going to fault Foley’s parents. Even though their son was murdered and instead might be home today, are they going to criticize Barack Obama? NO!

No, they will keep their mouths shut in front of the media and complain bitterly in private. So the other Americans, still being held, are going to suffer the same fate – be murdered because Obama will not pay for their freedom.

Again not doing so accomplishes nothing useful except make politicians like Obama look good for fraudulently looking tough. Now there is another level of hypocrisy here. President Obama of course did negotiate with terrorists recently that freed an American. What was the difference? That American was an American soldier who had been captured by terrorist in Afghanistan,

No that is not a valid distinction. Either you do or you do not negotiate with terrorists. Not that our President will negotiate for the release of certain Americans but allow other Americans to be murdered and not negotiate for their release. That kind of double standard is an outrage to be condemned.

Unfortunately in Obama’s America it is only too common.

Time for another round of golf on Martha’s Vineyard!

 About The Writer: Arthur Piccolo is a professional writer and commentator and often writes about Latin America for New Americas.

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