Can the Leader of the Democratic party Win a War?

This morning, 08/30/2014, I woke up to a 1994 episode of Law and Order titled White Rabbit on the TV.  The plot involved prosecuting a former Vietnam War protester/killer. It got me to thinking about that war and those that followed.  It occurred to me that no Democratic Party President has won a war since WWII when FDR's government defeated the Germans and the Japanese at the same time.  Here is a quick list of Democratic Party Presidents and their foreign policy/war fighting records.

- The next war was in Korea (1950-1953).  This undeclared war was led by President Truman (D) and it still has not ended. We lost 30,000 troops, Truman fired his General (MacArthur) who was executing the war for him, and we never won the war. An armistice was agreed to and it has been in ceasefire status since 1953.

- Vietnam (1955-1975) - President Johnson (D) escalated the fighting in Vietnam throughout his time as president and is responsible for losing over 50,000 US lives.  It  seemed to me at the time that he didn't want to win it.  He just wanted to keep it going and only he knows why.  We left Vietnam as the losers with Nixon in inheriting a lost war and trying to get us out of there.

- Iran (1979- ongoing) - President Carter (D) fails to respond to Iran's declaration of war on the western world. On November 4th, 1979. in a direct assault against Americans, the US Embassy in Tehran was invaded and the Americans were taken hostage. President Carter responded to this act of war by doing nothing.  He did personally direct a rescue effort, but failed at that as well. The US Embassy personnel were released on the day that President Ronald Reagan was sworn in, 444 days later.  The thing that is hard to believe about this one is that no president's administration, Democrats or Republicans, have taken Iran's declaration of war seriously - treating it as an issue that may need to be managed, but not taken seriously.  Now Iran is developing nuclear weapons, supports terror networks around the world (including the new terrorist group, ISIS), and they are still calling for the death of the "Great Satan" (the USA for those who have not been paying attention).

- Somalia (1992) -President Clinton (D) takes office in January 1992 and decides to change the mission of our peace keepers, who were providing humanitarian aid in Somalia, to capture Somalian warlords.  The military requested more equipment and soldiers to accomplish the new mission, but the President refused.  Our brave men and women attempted the new mission anyway and now we have a movie named "Blackhawk Down", where we unnecessarily lost the lives of 18 soldiers and left Somalia with tails tucked in.

- Haiti (1995) - Next, To prove he is some kind of national defense hawk, President Clinton defends against the military juggernaut and looming threat to US security by declaring war on the country of Haiti.  Haiti.  That's right.  He sent in the 82nd Airborne but the operation was cut short by a last minute peace agreement with Haiti negotiated by former president Carter.

Throughout President Clinton's two terms, he was challenged by radical Islam with multiple attacks on the US military by terrorists (Al Qaeda) and heads of state (Saddam Hussein).  Instead of finding out where these terrorists were based and then wiping them out, he treated the whole thing as a law enforcement matter and even took a pass on killing Osama Bin Laden.

- Iraq and Afghanistan - Now we have President Obama (D) who was handed two victories from Bush and immediately started moving them into the lost column. Channeling Truman, he also fires his General (McChrystal). Deciding that he doesn't care for completing the mission in Iraq and in Afghanistan, he makes a huge tactical and operational security blunder by announcing not only that US Forces will be pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan and then reveals tentative dates for this to happen.  President Obama's decision has nothing to do with winning or leaving the battlefield with a credible defense capability in those countries.  He just wanted out.

President Obama's naivete in this area is astounding to me.  He shows no concern for the lives of his troops or anyone else that represents this country overseas.  Just look at a few of his tactical blunders.

- Seal Team 6 successfully kills Osama Bin Laden and recovers a "treasure trove" of information about Al Qaeda. Information that could be used to locate and neutralize Al Qaeda all over the world. But what does he do?  He immediately announces to the world that he has a "treasure trove" of information concerning Al Qaeda operations and makes it practically useless in less than 24 hours. Not only that, It cannot be shown, or hasn't so far, that he has acted on any of the information gathered.  So, Dear Mr. President, even the lowest Private in the US Army knows that one does not tell the enemy that he has information about their operations.  And do you know why, Mr. resident? Because if you tell them you know what they are doing they will stop doing that and do something else, making all of your treasure into plug nickles.

Now we are reaping the results of President Obama's political decisions concerning Iraq. A new group of terrorists has grown from the vacuum President Obama created. The president drew a "red line" in Syria and when it was crossed - he did nothing.  Syrian insurgents, calling themselves ISIS, have moved in Syria, fighting that regime and have spread into Iraq, where the met with almost no resistance.  They have taken over large tracts of land, cities, banks and military equipment left in Iraq by US forces.  Did president Obama improve conditions in these countries?  The answer is 'no, he did not'.

In contrast to the Democrats' records, GOP presidents have had striking successes in leading us in times of national security.

- Abe Lincoln (R) was victorious over the Confederacy.
- President Reagan (R) won in Grenada in less than 2 weeks.
- President George HW Bush (R-41) defeated Iraq's military in a matter of weeks.  Operation Desert Storm took about five weeks to defeat Iraq's Republican guard.
- In Afghanistan, President George W. Bush (R-43) forced the Taliban to flee the country in a mere 7 weeks.  "43" followed this by unseating Saddam Hussein in 21 days. Both were clear victories.

So the question is, do we trust US Presidents who are members of the Democratic Party to conduct foreign policy and direct the US military in combat operations?  I answer is "I don't think so Tim".

They have proven their inability to lead and to be effective commanders in chiefs.