THE REAL WORLD – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:  I disagree with Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, on a number of things, but she's one of the grown-ups in the Senate, especially on foreign policy.  I think she sees the reality of things, and she is blunt about what we face in Iraq.  This will not go down well with the leftist fringe in her party.  From The Hill: 

The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday said the extremist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) must be confronted forcefully by the U.S., though she stopped short of calling for boots on the ground.

“It takes an army to defeat an army, and I believe that we either confront ISIL now or we will be forced to deal with an even stronger enemy in the future,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

The group is “operating with military expertise, advancing across Iraq and rapidly consolidating its position,” she added.

“Inaction is no longer an option,” according to Feinstein.

The senior lawmaker also said it had “become clear” that the group is recruiting and training fighters from Western countries and possibly sending them back to cities in the U.S. and Europe in order to “attack us in our backyard.”

“We simply cannot allow this to happen,” Feinstein warned.

COMMENT:  Obama has just made a statement saying our air strikes in Iraq could go on for a long time, as the Iraq government tries to reorganize.  Maybe he's finally getting the picture – that this is serious, and that ISIS could destabilize the entire region and pose a threat to the United States.

One thing ISIS is doing is capturing large numbers of American weapons that were originally supplied to the Iraqi army.  These weapons could be used in both Iraq and Syria.  Jordan and Lebanon are also potentially threatened. 

Welcome to hope and change.

August 9, 2014