And another thing ... Obama's WMDs admission

Lonely at the top

It's interesting how the worm has turned.

President George W. Bush acknowledged in 2006, and in various places afterwards, that Iraq did not have the weapons of mass destruction that United States intelligence believed it had as the United States went to war with Iraq in 2002.

It was a war that citizen Barack Obama said was stupid and candidate Obama said was "the consequences of a foreign policy based on flawed ideology."

On Sunday, President Obama, Bush's successor, acknowledged in a broadcast interview that the U.S. during his administration had underestimated the rise of the Islamic State militant group, known as ISIS or ISIL, and had placed too much confidence in the Iraqi military.

Not taking the blame a commander in chief should shoulder in such decisions, he noted that "our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that ...." and "they underestimated ... ." He also heaped blame on Nouri al-Maliki, the former Iraq prime minister, for squandering an intact democracy "we had left," "a military that was well-equipped and the ability then to chart their own course."

He's not wrong about Maliki, but isn't it amazing how the view changes when you're the one in charge?

On Monday, Republicans rightly challenged Obama putting the blame elsewhere, saying the Islamic militant group had been seen as a threat for at least a year.

So now, just two weeks after declaring in a nationally televised speech his plan for airstrikes which may take a while, for assisting an Iraqi army in which he now has no confidence and by declaring there would be no boots on the ground, the president is left with a strategy in which he seems to have only tepid hope.

And Americans are left with a lack of understanding about what their leader has in mind and what to think themselves. Their feelings were summed up by Rep. James Moran, D-Va., who voted against the Iraq war authorization 12 years ago but supported Obama's strategy in a recent House vote.

"It's the best choice of worse options," he said. "It's because there are no better alternatives, and I don't think it's responsible to do nothing."

Gone ... for now

An adviser for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, says the congressman's campaign has cut ties with political adviser Chip Saltsman, but the question is for how long?

Saltsman has been an on-again, off-again part of the 3rd District congressman's team since his initial 2010 campaign, in which the attorney came from behind to defeat former state Republican Party Chairwoman Robin Smith in the Republican primary following the release of some dubious information about Smith.

He then ran Fleischmann's 2012 re-election bid, then left the staff in 2013. However, Fleischmann's 2014 campaign paid Saltsman's consulting firm for work in the primary against challenger Weston Wamp, who lost to the incumbent by roughly 1 percent of the vote. The campaign against Wamp, especially TV ads and direct mail pieces, was full of mischaracterizations, misrepresentations and half-truths.

The incumbent now may believe he doesn't need Saltsman for his general election campaign against Mary Headrick. After all, the 3rd District tilts Republican, and he won 61.5 percent of the vote against Headrick and a minor independent challenger in 2012.

Fleischmann, though, would be smart to cut ties to the political adviser permanently, be a more open and visible congressman, and govern in a way that does not belie his conservative principles but signals he represents all of the 3rd District and not just those who vote Republican.

Iron solid event

Most of us will never run a marathon or bike 116 miles or swim 2.4 miles at a time, but more than 2,000 competitors did all three in Chattanooga's first Ironman triathlon competition Sunday. Matt Hanson of Storm Lake, Iowa, and Angela Naeth of Canada were the men's and women's winners, respectively, but the competition had so many more stories than the triumphant strokes, pedals and strides by the winners.

Here, for instance, was a former Chattanoogan who overcame childhood Legg-Perthes disease to compete. There was a man who got into shape to participate for his cancer-battling son. Here was a man nearing 80 competing. There was a participant who didn't finish until after midnight -- but finished!

With more than 4,000 volunteers and riverfront crowds estimated at more than 10,000 people, the Scenic City did itself proud at hosting this first-ever event. And minus some light rain in the afternoon and evening and a few tacks and oil put on the roadway by some joy killer, it couldn't have been better.

Congratulations, Matt Hanson, Angela Naeth, all competitors -- and Chattanooga.

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