Retired Gen. Jack Keane Saturday denied Americans are "war weary," an excuse used by the Obama administration to keep from putting boots on the ground in the Middle East, and said most Americans did not suffer as a result of the 9/11 attacks 15 years ago.
"The American people [have been] able to go about their lives these past 15 years," the retired four-star general told talk show host Larry Kudlow on his WABC radio program Saturday, saying the attacks were not comparable to World War II, which involved most American families.
Just after the attacks, then-President George W. Bush encouraged Americans to "go back and watch the Yankees" and not be intimidated by terrorists, said Keane, pointing out that he is a "great admirer" of the Republican president.
But even when under Bush, the United States went after the Taliban for providing sanctuary to the 9/11 terrorists, the nation never quite understood the threat of radical terrorism, and as intelligent people, Americans needed to be educated.
Keane saved his sharpest words for President Barack Obama, who "does absolutely everything he can to distance himself" from the issue of radical terrorism.
ISIS is "marauding" in Iraq and Syria, and Obama said to his leaders, "we're going to destroy ISIS," the retired general told Kudlow. "Instead of asking military leaders to bring together a military campaign, he didn't do that."
Obama didn't want boots on the ground, Keane continued, and although ISIS and radical Islam are at war with the United States, Obama is not at war with them, and he does not buy the argument that Americans are "war weary."
He also questioned why NATO hasn't declared war on ISIS, despite member countries being under attack at least 14-15 times.
Keane spoke about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's comments earlier this week about Obama making "rubble" out of the nation's general, and said it implied the nation's generals are "weak."
"I believe we do have a weak president," Keane told Kudlow. "As a result of that, it makes the generals look weak."
Also, Obama asks the generals to follow failed policies, but when the generals have made force level recommendations to Obama, "he rejected all of them."
"In 2009, his team asked for a campaign plan to defeat the Taliban," said Keane, giving one example. "Generals [David] Petraeus and [Stanley] McChrystal put a plan together, told him, we need 40,000 troops, he provided 25 percent less. Then he pulled the 30,000 troops out 12 months later."
Those two decisions "doomed Afghanistan to a protracted war," said Keane, also decrying Obama's decision to pull troops out of Iraq, creating a vacuum of power in that country.
ISIS is different from many other terrorist organizations, he continued, as it holds terrain, and that means the insurgents must be fought on the ground.
"They're not 10 feet tall, the ISIS fighters," said Keane, insisting they are on the decline and can be defeated. He envisions a NATO coalition, led by the United States, but that doesn't mean the United States would become an occupying force.
Keane also does not have high hopes for the U.S.-Russia agreement announcement to cease fire in Syria.
"Let's not hold our breath here; none of these cease fires have worked," said Keane. The Syrian opposition forces were not represented at the negotiating table, he continued, and "they will continue to fight."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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