BACKFILL: A BIG UNDER-REPORTED (UNREPORTED) STORY — The Commandant of U.S. Marine Corps Slams The Obama Administration Over Iraq

Obama's Lap-dog Press Largely Ignores Member of the Joint Chiefs' Criticism of the U.S. Current Poor 'Leadership' and Inadequate 'Courage' In the World 

To acknowledge Marine Corps Commandant's remarks would cause an "Emperor Has No Clothes" Moment for Impotent President

Yesterday, the NewsBusters blog reported that “It has been eight days since Marine Corps Commandant and Joint Chiefs of Staff member General James Amos spoke out against the current lack-of-leadership climate in Washington....  Despite the almost unheard-of nature of Amos's critique, it's not news —  proving yet again that the establishment press is far more interested protecting their President than in doing their jobs....” (See “Press Ignores General Amos's Criticism of U.S.'s Poor 'Leadership' and Inadequate 'Courage' ” by  Tom Blumer, 7/23/14, NewsBusters [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2014/07/23/press-ignores-general-amoss-criticism-uss-poor-leadership-and-inadequate]).

Last week, it was reported by the “Business Insider” that the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Amos, USMC,  while speaking at the Brookings Institution on July 2014, stepped out front and jumped into the political debate over the chaos in Iraq.  In doing so, he took aim right at the White House and the President of the United States — arguably an act of insurbordination (See “The Marine Corps' Top General Slams The Obama Administration Over Iraq” by Paul Szoldra, 7/17/14, Business Insider/ Military & Defense [http://www.businessinsider.com/marine-commandant-iraq-2014-7]). This is the line that is causing all the fuss: “I have a hard time believing that had we been there [in Iraq], and worked with the government, and worked with parliament, and worked with the minister of defense, the minister of interior, I don't think we'd be in the same shape we're in today....” Or it might have been this:   “We may think we're done with all of these nasty, thorny, tacky little things that are going on around the world.  And I'd argue that if you're in that nation, it's not a tacky, little thing for you. We may think we're done with them, but they're not done with us."

According to the Business Insider’ reporter, “While he didn't explicitly call out Obama while talking about Iraq, it's certainly being interpreted that way. And it's rather unusual for an active-duty officer to say things that can be viewed as critical towards his or her boss.”

General Amos’ gaff or flap or whatever it was should have been a big story. However, on this story the press was clearly more like the Holmesian  dog that did not bark.  The only print daily  to give timely coverage to the story of General Amos’ statements at Brookings was the right-leaning Washington Times (See “Top Marine Corps general slams Obama’s handling of Iraq” by Douglas Ernst, 7/17/14, The Washington Times [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/17/gen-james-amos-marine-corps-commandant-slams-obama/]).

Even the Fox News Channel was slow to get on board with this story, being almost a week late to the story about the Marine Corps Commandant’s statements at the Brookings Institution (See “ 'Kelly File': Top Marine General Voices Rare Criticism Over Iraq” by Fox News Insider, 7/23/14, Fox News [Insider]/ As Seen On the Kelly File [http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/07/23/kelly-file-top-marine-general-amos-criticizes-obama-admins-handling-iraq]).

However, when Fox did around to it, they pulled no punches, saying this: “It is almost unheard of for a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but the nation's top Marine commander came out with some criticism of President Obama's policies. Four-star Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, slammed the administration last week at the Brookings Institution for the current situation in Iraq.”  Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North, a guest on “The Kelly File,” gave his reaction to his “friend” General James Amos’ remarks by saying, "It's about time somebody in Washington stood up and told everyone what they know to be true....  Everyone paying attention now realizes Obama should have taken the trouble to negotiate that status-of-forces agreement. ... Kudos to General Amos for speaking this way. He knows that diplomacy only works if it's backed up military prowess and a strong economy and right now we have neither.... He realizes that the finest military that's ever existed on this Earth is being systematically dismantled and we're calling them all home and throwing them out of the service."