“Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.” –George Bush, #43
ISIS, undoubtedly is one of the most dangerous, most hateful, most despicable groups in the world. Their acronym stands for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and they are a group that came from hell, a place they will shortly be returning to.
To help them get there quicker, Barak Obama is calling for authorization from congress for him to send United States Army ground troops to fight ISIS. The president vowed that we will win, saying "I'm convinced that the United States should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war.”
Congress is considering the matter.
So far, the fight has been carried out by American and other members of the coalition with an intense bombing campaign with hundreds and hundreds of strikes. The bombings have helped the local troops on the ground as they push back the Extremist Islamic fighters, who are so extreme even Al-Qaeda refuses to be affiliated with them.
There also a little less than two hundred ground troops in the area at the moment from the US, but none of these are fighting, and according the White House, their only roll is in training our local allies in the plan to “degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS.”
But now the president wants more ground troops, and this time, not just to train people, but rather to kill members of ISIS. While the thought of more dead ISIS members may be enticing, the president’s plan, and his promise that the US’s involvement will not escalate into “another prolonged ground war” has too many holes in it for comfort.
Firstly, the president’s own record on ISIS. When he first heard about it, if he did think it was a threat, he decided to do nothing. Then he called for airstrikes when it became painfully apparent that this organized group of murderers was indeed, dangerous. But he promised no ground troops. Then he promised ground troops in a training capacity, as they are now, saying they would not have to fight. And now he wants more ground troops, and he wants them to fight.
So each time he has said “thus far and no more” he has done “ far more.” And we all know what happens with “Operation Creep”s, they just keep on creeping. Getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger…
Not too long ago, a horrendous video surfaced showing a Jordanian man burning alive. And recently, it appeared that an American woman died in ISIS’ so called “territory.” As soon as that happened, the calls for ground troops emerged. Perhaps in some quarters, emotion is running out ahead of better judgment.
The argument could be made that we need the ground troops to win the war. But right now, the air campaign is going as planned. ISIS members are dying, their buildings are being hit, their troops are being forced to scatter, and we even drove them out of of Kobani, the small town that many, including myself, said would be the test of the strategy. If we could rout them from Kobani with our bombs and local ground personnel, then we could drive them out of all the land they held. They no longer hold Kobani, and the plan is working.
And to those that would say “but you can’t win a war without ground troops” remember this, there are boots on the ground, they are Iraqi and Syrian and even Syrian Rebels. These are people fighting for their homes, and with the training and weapons we are providing them, and the bombs we are dropping on our mutual enemies, we can send ISIS back to hell.
Andrew C. Abbott
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