Clever PSYOP or Admission of Weakness?

I’m sitting down the road from the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA. The ocean is pounding and the sun is shining. I’m taking a holiday for the next few weeks and thought I could take a break from the Blog as well.

Just not meant to be, at least this week.

President Obama is taking some well-deserved political hits for admitting that ‘we’ (meaning he of course) doesn’t have a strategy to deal with ISIS. (See for example: http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/politics/obama-isis-strategy/index.html).

The comment has served as lightning rod to the President’s critics but one has to wonder why would the head of one of the world’s most powerful nations actually get caught admitting that he hadn’t a clue as to how to deal with one of the most potent enemies to pop on to the landscape.

Could it be a great PSYOP ploy designed to lull the enemy into thinking that they have a respite period until the Commander-in-Chief gets his act together or is it an honest admission that probably shouldn’t have gone on the air?

Obviously I don’t really know, but there is a point here for senior personnel and that is remember you can never go ‘off the record’ and you can never let your guard down. Today’s 7x24 information hogging world is always ready to explode bits that could titillate.

For my American colleagues, enjoy your last holiday weekend of the summer of 2014.

Don’t be surprised if there are no Blog entries for the next couple of weeks as I am taking a holiday in Italy to concentrate on my watercolor painting.

Photo Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/august-2014-photo-day