Barack Obama blames US Navy for increased North Korean tensions.

Ever notice that this administration is only lightning-fast when it comes to shifting blame when things don’t work out perfectly?  They practically left a vapor trail in their zeal to anonymously accuse the US military of being responsible for our tense situation with North Korea:

So, it’s the Navy’s fault that the U.S.-North Korea spat has gone so far?

That’s the apparent message from senior administration officials who, according to the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, said that they had long planned to send B-52s, B-2 stealth bombers, and F-22 fighters to the Korean Peninsula as part of preplanned wargames with South Korea, but that they had not planned the recent deployment of Navy destroyers.

Last weekend, the U.S. ordered two guided-missile destroyers to the Western Pacific — the U.S.S. John S. McCain and the U.S.S. Decatur — to provide additional defense against North Korean ballistic missiles.

Command takes responsibility, Mr. Obama. 

Via AoSHQ.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Yes, it is difficult to balance expecting the military to show initiative and expecting it to show discernment.  I suspect that the Obama administration has now – completely inadvertently – settled that issue for some time; initiative is not welcome.  That’s great, right up to the point when something bad happens because a military commander hesitates for a brief, yet fatal moment.

4 thoughts on “Barack Obama blames US Navy for increased North Korean tensions.”

  1. IMHO, it’s worse than just discouraging initiative. The mature response would have been to say nothing, to give reporters no answer as to who ordered the repositioning. This is blame-shifting, and preemptive at that. They’ve just told the military “you’re on your own, boys”.
    .
    ISTR reading from Wretchard that the news of the ships moving came out of the White House to begin with. IF my recollection is correct, the message is even worse.

  2. “Hey guys, I’m just the Commander in Chief. It’s not like I can tell them where to go. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late to a fundraiser.”

  3. ISTR reading from Wretchard that the news of the ships moving came out of the White House to begin with.
     
    We should have a clarification on this very soon. I’m sure that our intrepid press corps will be pestering Jay Carney with questions about this issue, and that he’ll answer quickly and forthrightly. … Any minute now …
     
    … crickets …

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