THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW

Winning Against ISIS? Last week, America witnessed the fall of Ramadi, an Iraqi city that U.S. soldiers fought to liberate just years ago. Is our strategy to defeat and destroy ISIS working? ISIS forces managed to capture the Iraqi city of Ramadi last week. It was one of their biggest victories of late. The capture of Ramadi prompted harsh criticism over the weekend from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. He said that the Iraqi forces “showed no will to fight.” According to his intel, "They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force, and yet they failed to fight." This prompted reaction from Iraqi Prime Minster Haider al-Abadi who said he was “surprised” by Carter's comment. Al-Abadi insists that Iraqi forces will retake Ramadi in a couple of days. An operation is currently underway to retake Ramadi and drive ISIS out of the Anbar province. Will it take more than airstrikes to ultimately defeat ISIS? A meeting in Jordan over the weekend indicates that Mideast officials would welcome more American intervention in order to defeat ISIS, including possible ground troops. But Obama is ideologically glued to the idea of being able to say that America is not engaged in a major ground war. Yesterday in his Memorial Day address, Obama bragged that this was the first Memorial Day in 14 years when the U.S. was not engaged in a major ground war and the first since the war in Afghanistan came to an end. But non-engagement doesn't equate to success or winning a war. While no one is quick to send our brave soldiers into harms way, soldiers want to believe that when they go and sacrifice for their country that their efforts won't be in vain. Such is the frustrating case for those soldiers and the families of those who lost loved ones who served in Iraq. Now they are witnessing the fall of a country they worked so hard to liberate and secure. Reasons such as this are likely the reason why military morale is seeing such low numbers. Can you blame them? Absolutely not. Pataki to Enter Crowded Presidential Race Ignoring the polls and pundits, former New York Gov. George Pataki plans to announce Thursday that he's joining the crowded Republican field for president. The three-term governor will unveil his candidacy in Exeter, N.H., - which claims the birthplace of the Republican Party - and join a group of contenders who are approaching the 20 member mark. "I'm a Republican following in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt who understands that conservatism isn't just economic policy and but it's also preserving and enhancing the outdoors," Pataki said, arguing that decisions like marriage, gun rights and education should be left up to the states.