Obama 'tone deaf' for not rethinking ISIS strategy

By Jacqueline Klimas, Jacqueline Klimas

Published December 20, 2015

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While other world leaders are calling the attacks in Paris an act of war and, in the case of France, stepping up their strikes on the Islamic State, President Obama said on Monday that the U.S. strategy does not need to change because of the "setback."

Analysts said this attitude represents an overconfidence in a U.S. strategy that hasn't changed, even as the Islamic State adjusts its strategy to include recent foreign attacks in Paris, Beirut and on a Russian airliner over Egypt.

By not taking these changes into account, Obama's speech at the G20 meeting in Turkey came off as "almost tone deaf," said Justin Johnson, a senior analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

"Why isn't Obama at least willing to say 'let's look at the strategy again, let's double check to make sure this strategy is the right one,'" Johnson said. "The fact that he's not even willing to say that is concerning and could reflect an over confidence or a lack of understanding of just how important the situation is."