Obama on ISIL

   Obama's message was clear from the beginning of his speech. He plans to "degrade, and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL." Obama has adopted a no-nonsense approach to the handling of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and has made this evident through his speech.
   The message was delivered with a confident and comforting tone. Regarding the treatment of ISIL, President Obama attempts to comfort the American population by saying, "I know many Americans are concerned about these threats. Tonight, I want you to know that the United States of America is meeting them with strength and resolve." He later goes on to boast that "we have conducted more than 150 successful airstrikes in Iraq" to ensure the American people that the atrocities conducted by ISIL are not going unpunished.
   Obama's tone and body language portray an unwavering confidence in his plan and in the military's ability to conduct it. Naturally, this may be an act because if the President does not believe in his own plan, who will?
   After the President laid out his plan for ISIL, he attempted to rally Americans around all of our recent accomplishments. He repeatedly used the phrase "it is America" followed by something we have done to better the world. This attempt to unite us all as Americans was probably the most effective part of the speech. Admittedly, many people will see this as a blatant attempt to use previous and unrelated success's to justify another war, but on the other hand it reminds us of all the good we've done throughout the world. We as Americans enjoy being told that we are doing good around the world, thus making this the most effective part of the speech.
   It's eerie how we as a nation have been in this situation before. We have had several presidents try to sell us a war, almost consistently in the middle east with promises that it will be quick, painless, with little American loss of life. I regret to admit that this represents the fourth Media Truth; Nothing's new; everything that happened in the past will happen again. Very few of us thought history would repeat itself this quickly.