Obama is 'chronically incapable' of military strategy and 'clueless about what he wants to do in the world' according to top UK defense adviser

Sir Hew Strachan, an advisor to the UK's Chief of the Defence Staff has heavily criticized President Obama

The Oxford University professor believes that the president is incapable of choosing a military strategy



Writing in his new book The Direction of War Strachan says that Obama pales compared to his predecessor President George W. Bush

Also heavily attacks British Prime Minister David Cameron



President Obama has been judged to be 'chronically incapable' of conducting a coherent military strategy and 'has no sense of what he wants to do in the world', according to Oxford University professor, Sir Hew Strachan - one of the UK's most respected and senior military advisers.



The damning verdict from a governmental insider of the United States' closest military ally comes days after the president was heavily criticized by his own former Defense Secretary Robert Gates who said that Obama was indecisive and lacked any passion for his nation's armed forces.



Claiming that America and Britain had committed total strategic failure in their near decade-long Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, Strachan said that the recent failed attempts to intervene militarily on behalf of Syrian rebels 'has left them in a far worse position than they were before.'

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U.S. President Barack Obama applauds retiring Defense Secretary Robert Gibbs in 2011 - Gibbs has lambasted his former boss in his new memoir and called him indecisive and far from passionate about the military

Strachan is currently a member of the United Kingdom's Chief of Defence Staff's Strategic Advisory Panel and claims that the 'crazy' mismanagement of the Syrian crisis at the end of the summer was the worst example of the military planning in evidence since 9/11 and that at least President George W. Bush had a plan and stuck to it.

Stern views: Professor Sir Hew Strachan of Oxford University has been sharply critical of the United States, President Obama and Britain's strategic planning since 9/11 in his new book The Direction of War

'If anything it’s gone backwards instead of forwards, Obama seems to be almost chronically incapable of doing this,' said Strachan.



'Bush may have had totally fanciful political objectives in terms of trying to fight a global War on Terror, which was inherently astrategic, but at least he had a clear sense of what he wanted to do in the world.



'Obama has no sense of what he wants to do in the world,' he said according to the Daily Beast.



Even worse still, Strachan believes that Western indecision over whether or not to launch limited action against President Bashar al-Assad strengthened the Syrian leader and undermined the United States' power and reputation.



'What he’s done in talking about Red Lines in relation to Syria has actually devalued the deterrent effect of American military capability and it seems to me that creates an unstable situation, because if he were act it would surprise everybody,' he said.



'I think the other issue is that in starting and stopping with Assad, he’s left those who might be his natural allies in Syria with nowhere to go. He’s increased the likelihood that if there is a change of regime in Syria that it will be an Islamic fundamentalist one.'



The verdicts reached by Strachan are published in his new book, The Direction of War, which is to be released next month.

Critical: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates was fiercely critical of President Obama in his new memoir

Decisive: U.S. President George W. Bush declares an end to major combat in Iraq during a speech to crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as the carrier steamed toward San Diego, California, in this May 1, 2003 file photo

Dithering: United States President Barack Obama meets with members of his national security team in the Situation Room of the White House

ROBERT GATES BREAKS NECK DURING A FALL ON ICE

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been forced to wear a neck brace while on his book launch after breaking his first vertebrae after a fall. Mr Gates, former Central Intelligence Agency director for President George H.W. Bush and President Obama, fractured his neck after slipping on ice outside his home in Seattle at the beginning of the year.

In 2008, Mr Gates broke his shoulder after slipping on ice, causing him to miss a congressional hearing.

The book examines what Strachan sees as the failure of politicians to use history and strategy to predict the implications of present or future military actions.



Strachan, who is Oxford University's Professor of the History of War claims that politicians and the public have become used to quick-fix wars that are essentially an extension of policy.

'Using war did deliver. The wars were pretty short, the Falklands, First Gulf War, Kosovo, so people lulled themselves into an expectation that war was simply a continuation of policy and that it was successful. But it hasn’t been since 9/11,' he said.



Strachan believes that civilian politicians have become too controlling of their military staff and leaders and do not allow them to give honest advice.

No action: Aleppo, Syria --- Residents search for survivors after what activists said were air strikes by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Maysar neighbourhood of Aleppo December 28, 2013

He is particularly critical of the sacking of General Stanley McCrystal after he seemed to be disparaging about his commander-in-chief in a Rolling Stone article.



'The concern about the military speaking out shows a lack of democratic and political maturity. We’re not facing the danger of a military coup.



'The professional experts, who deal with war all the time, should be able to express their views all the time, openly and coherently, just as you would expect a doctor or a teacher to express their views coherently about how you run medical policy or teaching policy,' he said.



Strachan does not keep his criticisms solely to President Obama.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks in the House of Commons - where he lost a crucial vote in August to take the UK to war against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria

He says that British Prime Minster David Cameron's defeat in a parliamentary vote to launch military action on Syria 'absolutely illustrated the failure to think through the strategic implications of his own actions,' said Strachan.



Indeed, Strachan calls to mind the example of British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a former soldier himself, who enjoyed frank and open discussions with his military staff.

