War On Terror: The failed mission to rescue photojournalist James Foley reportedly should have been approved a month sooner, but our special forces "weren't permitted." This seems to be The Dithering Presidency.

Toby Harnden, Washington correspondent for the London Sunday Times, reports that President Obama originally wouldn't give the green light to the elite 160th Special Ops Aviation Regiment to rescue Foley and other American hostages being held by the Islamic State at least partially because of political considerations.

According to ex-Royal Navy officer Harnden, "preying on his mind was the failed 1980 Delta Force operation to rescue American hostages in Tehran."

The Desert One disaster, with eight U.S. troops killed "cast a shadow over Jimmy Carter's presidency." Defense sources told Harnden that out of concern "about the ramifications of U.S. troops being killed or captured in Syria," Obama "took too long to authorize the mission."

Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, an ex-military intelligence officer and covert operations specialist, told Harnden, "I'm told it was almost a 30-day delay from when they said they wanted to go to when he finally gave the green light."

Another Pentagon source complained to Harnden of a White House that "constantly goes back and forth on these things," describing the president and his closest advisers as "a bunch of academics who endlessly analyze stuff and ordering up another deep-thinking paper but can't decide what to order for lunch."

There are several very disturbing issues here.

Lack of focus: President Obama's obsession with golf has become a running joke, with even liberals like New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd viciously turning on him over it.

And we've known for years that he doesn't attend his daily intelligence briefings regularly. If you're not prepped on your daily duties, you can't do your job well, whether you're president or a short-order chef.

Politicization: Five-and-a-half years of this presidency makes it clear that every big decision has to be vetted by the White House political shop, and that takes time. Real leadership often means doing the right thing, fast.

This is especially true during war — which is what this is. Maybe Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod don't always have to weigh in, Mr. President.

Pride: The White House "academics who endlessly analyze" and "deep-think" also don't dare ruffle the feathers of "The One." Maybe this bunch, and their boss, ought to have more respect for the judgment of the military brass.

They're sending out strong public signals of alarm that the president doesn't recognize the bloodthirsty IS has exceeded its al-Qaida forefathers as a threat. And that they must be destroyed, not contained.

The presidency has many perks, but self-absorbed distraction is not one of them.