Obama the new warrior?

There's no question the Christmas "pantie bomber" was another wake up call to most of America. I say most, as there are still many loons out there who still believe this whole terror thing is part of the fear mongering right wing establishment.
Lets for a minute though forget that group and focus on what the Administration believes and what are they doing about it...

What is clear is from the beginning of his administration and even during his campaign, Obama has played down the threat and the overall "war on terror".
What were his goals....

-get out of Iraq
-fight the "right" war in Afghanistan
-change how America is viewed in the world

Now to his credit, he is listening to his generals and moving judiciously, to exit Iraq. He has essentially signed off on the military agreement between Iraq and the Bush administration. It's pretty clear there will not be any precipitous withdrawal but a measured one based on conditions on the ground.
In Afghanistan, he certainly took long enough to make the decision but has again listened to his generals. Much to the Lefts displeasure, will add 30,000 troops to fight there. However, in order to soften the blow to his Left, he has said he will begin to withdraw the troops after 18 months

So what's my beef and how has he played down the threat?

Lets start with his grand plan to reset America's image in the world by, as he said in his Inaugural address, "extending a hand if our adversaries will unclench their fists". This was manifested in his first few months in office by what many call his around the world "apology tour". Those speeches were crafted to say the 8 years of the previous administration and it's truculent attitude, are over. In its place would be a softer, gentler America with hope, change and a deep desire to once again be loved by the world community.

So with that as background, he will close the prison at Guantanamo and will stop so called torture. He will uphold the rule of law and extend the rights of U.S. citizens to terrorists by using our courts for their trials. There will no longer be enhanced interrogation of enemy combatants but they will get Marandized"... exactly what we do to common criminals. We will not try the confessed terrorist architects of 9/11 in the Supreme Court approved Military Tribunals, but in a civilian court in NYC where again they will get unwarranted rights. In fact, we no longer have terrorist or even a "war on terror". We now have "man made disasters".

Speaking of disasters, the aftermath of this Christmas "almost bomber was a series of miscalculations from the many involved. For now, forget about the "dots" that were not connected by all the intelligence agencies. That was bad enough but having worked in the industry, I'm flabbergasted that security in Amsterdam would let him, or for that matter, anyone board an international flight after buying a one way ticket with cash and checking no bags. This has always been "rule one" and for that reason alone he should have not been allowed to fly until he was checked out thoroughly.... end of story!

So is Obama the new warrior? I think not!

He needs to "connect his own dots"...the ones in his mind. His silence about the killing of the soldier in the recruiting office by a Muslim radical was upsetting. His reaction to the Ft Hood massacre as a criminal act and not connected to our overseas adversaries was disturbing. He initial "lone extremest" statement about the Christmas bomber was unconscionable.
He has recently changed his description to a "war against Al Qaeda"...so maybe that's a start

However, unless and until he manifests the grit and determination to crush those who wish us harm with all the power of the U.S., the answer is a resounding NO!