Former Vice President Dick Cheney said that President Barack Obama "has consistently demonstrated…a refusal to accept good military advice" while developing his strategy to combat the Islamic State (ISIS).
"The longer [American military action against ISIS] takes, the costlier it will be in terms of lives and treasure. When we did Desert Storm, we gave them the whole load the first night of the war. We pulled out all the stops in terms of using all of our capability," Cheney said on
Fox News' "Hannity" Wednesday.
Cheney said that while he supports elements of Obama's plan to target ISIS, he is skeptical about the effectiveness of a strategy based primarily on airstrikes. Specifically, he said, airstrikes in Syria were the right way forward but were "not going to get the job done" by themselves."
"When you have pinprick attacks as they were doing initially with respect to the air campaign, that's what you get. You give the enemy time to adjust to go underground, to take care of protecting themselves from those attacks and they're less effective when you telegraph what you're going to do, and Barack Obama has consistently demonstrated, I think, a refusal to accept good military advice in terms of how he actually uses the force."
Cheney added that Obama lacked experience and respect for senior commanders.
"These are tremendously capable people…he certainly should listen to the senior military commanders who are responsible on the ground for executing on policy and take their advice occasionally. But almost always when the subject comes up, he nearly always rejects what they recommend."
Cheney also reflected on the strength of the coalition with Arab countries. He said that while having their support was "a good addition, it doesn't get you over the goal line."
"[The U.S. is] a long way from solving the problem," of ISIS, Cheney said.
Cheney blamed Obama's worldview for increasing the threat of global terrorism and the resurgence of America's adversaries such as Russia.
"I think he has a world view and what he's found increasingly is not consistent with reality," Cheney said. "He has a worldview that is inaccurate and doesn't match the reality out there and when he comes up against that inconsistency…he doesn't know what to do."
Meanwhile, Cheney said he was "stunned" that Obama in his speech to the United Nations compared the violence and extremism in the Middle East to the racial tensions and protests last month in Ferguson, Mo. following the shooting death of Michael Brown.
"To compare the two as though there is moral equivalence is outrageous," Cheney said, citing the beheadings and violent killings ISIS has carried out in recent weeks.
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