Obama Must Not Hesitate in the Face of Terrorism

Published in ABC
(Spain) on 25 November 2014
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Beth Holding. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.
The voters warned him. So, it’s understandable that the American president would want to respond to the criticisms received during the recent midterm elections with nothing less than a political gesture. But it’s worrying that he would decide upon the forced resignation of U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel for such means. This decision demonstrates Obama’s lack of clear direction when it comes to the single most serious issue America and its allies are currently faced with: the threat that is the Islamic State.

Obama arrived at the White House ready to change the perception of U.S foreign policy and security, which had been worn down by the pressure of two simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hagel was clearly appointed for political reasons, and was entrusted with the unpleasant task of ensuring the complete withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, despite evidence that Afghan soldiers were not ready to resist a Taliban attack without further backup. The violent invasion of the Islamic State group — a large-scale threat for the free world, and one that requires an appropriate approach in terms of terrorist potential — now confirms that Obama’s good intentions just weren’t good enough. The new secretary of defense will be faced with an extremely complex mission, one that will need all the support it can get, inside and outside of the U.S., in order to stop evil in its tracks. Hagel’s uncertainty ended up losing him his job, but at the end of the day it’s the equally hesitant Obama who must step up and bring some more convincing decisions to the table. There’s no other option when the enemy’s intentions are as explicit as the abominable crimes committed by their followers.


AVISADO y tocado por los electores, resulta comprensible que el presidente norteamericano quiera responder con un gesto político a las severas críticas recibidas en los recientes comicios de mitad de mandato. Pero es preocupante que haya escogido para tal fin la dimisión –forzada– del secretario de Defensa, Chuck Hagel, un cese que pone de manifiesto su falta de ideas claras en el asunto más grave al que deberán hacer frente Estados Unidos y sus aliados en los próximos tiempos: la amenaza que representa el mal llamado Estado Islámico.

Barack Obama había llegado a la Casa Blanca dispuesto a cambiar la percepción de la política exterior y de seguridad norteamericana, agotada por la presión de dos guerras simultáneas en Irak y Afganistán. Hagel fue un nombramiento decididamente político, que tenía encomendada la ingrata tarea de impulsar la retirada de la OTAN de Afganistán, a pesar de la evidencia de que los afganos no estaban listos para resistir por su cuenta la ofensiva de los talibanes. La feroz irrupción del EI –una amenaza de grandes dimensiones para el mundo libre y que requiere un enfoque adecuado a su potencial terrorista– confirma ahora que las buenas intenciones de Obama no eran suficientes. El nuevo secretario de Defensa tendrá ante sí una misión extremadamente compleja, que necesitará de todo el apoyo –también por parte de los aliados– para detener la personificación del mal absoluto que constituyen los fanáticos del EI. Las vacilaciones de Hagel han terminado por pasarle factura, pero es Barack Obama quien, con las mismas vacilaciones, mueve los hilos de una guerra que exige decisiones más contundentes. No cabe dudar ante un enemigo cuyas intenciones son tan explícitas como los abominables crímenes que cometen sus seguidores.
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