Should America lead the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and can we live with the consequences if we don’t?
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The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) is battling in Iraq and Syria for an Islamic state combining Iraq and Syria as a start to a large scale caliphate. The last recognized caliphate–which at one-point ruled over the Middle East and much of North Africa, during Islam’s 1400-year history, was abolished by Turkey in 1924.
The great concerns are the destabilization of the region as well as a new surge in international terrorism in addition to the humanitarian crisis of refuges and of ISIS killing/beheading other Muslims and non-Muslims in pursuit of domination and supremacy.
In reaction to the ongoing killings and the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the administration is planning to expand the Iraq current humanitarian and protection of American facilities air strikes to ISIS targets in both Iraq and Syria.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of State Martin Dempsey indicated that ISIS cannot defeated by tackling them in Iraq. He went on to say that ISIS must be addressed “on both sides of what is essentially a non existent border…ISIS will only be truly defeated when it’s rejected by the 20 million disenfranchised Sunni that happen to reside between Damascus and Baghdad.”
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President Obama authorized surveillance flights over Syria, which can be a significant step towards direct American military action in Syria and Iraq.
In a twist of irony, several Americans have apparently joint ISIS and participate in the ongoing fighting. Over the weekend Douglas McAuthur McCain, of San Diego, California was killed in a fight between two Syrian opposition groups. On his body the victors found $800 in cash and an American passport. It is estimated that a small handful of Americans are fighting with ISIS in Iraq.
Considering the centuries of intra-Muslim fighting, in addition to the ongoing war with Israel and persecutions/battles of/with Christians and Kurds, and possible terrorist acts here, what role should the US play and can we be effective without actually sending substantial military troupes back in, hopefully as part of a large international coalition?
Photo: Ogbodo Solutions /Flicker
Wes is on the mark here. But medalled away the west have and created more problems than they solved. There isn’t a short term solution here. By leaving from Iraq, western influence left a power vacuum. One filled by the very extremist groups they help to form. What roles should the west play in all this – I’m not sure. Will military strikes help or only prolong the suffering – no one can truely see that. The fact that Al Qaeda have condemned ISIS for being to brutal is maybe an indicator. What will happen if the west stays out?… Read more »
This is why the Founders warned against entangling alliances with other countries. America was meant to be a Constitutional Republic, not an empire who plays cop and social worker to the rest of the world.