Begging the U.S. to come to its senses, French President Francoise Hollande called for a “grand coalition” to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS], responsible for the Nov. 13 mayhem causing 129 deaths and hundreds of injuries in six coordinated attacks in Paris. “France is at war,” Hollande told a joint session of parliament today in the Palace of Versailles. Hollande announced he will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin to fashion a coherent military response to ISIS, now promising more terror in Europe and the U.S. “We say to the state that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France’s and by God, as we struck France in the center of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington,” said Algerian-born ISIS operative al-Ghaareeb, declaring war.
Obama’s toe-in-the-water air-campaign against ISIS in Iraq began June 15, 2014 hasn’t ended occupation of some 30% of Iraq’s sovereign territory. Nor has Obama’s decision to start bombing ISIS in Syria Sept. 22, 2014 displaced ISIS from one inch in Syria. Hollande’s plea to Obama and Putin is that much more than air strikes must be done to ISIS if the world is serious about today’s new breed of Mideast and global terrorists. Friday’s multiple terrorist attacks in Paris show the global reach of Islamic terrorism, no longer something the White House can mange with global law enforcement. Whatever past mistakes were made by former President George W. Bush, the present requires Obama to step up with a more comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy. GOP presidential candidates, with the exception of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky,), call for a ground war against ISIS.
Hollande’s appeal to Obama and Putin recognizes that the West and the East must work together a coherent military strategy to rid ISIS of its safe havens in Iraq and Syria. Working with the Kurd’s Peshmerga fighters, Hollande’s “grand coalition” has a real chance of eradicating ISIS on the ground in Iraq and Syra. More talk of multilateral diplomacy and better intel are no substitute for doing the heavy lifting of rooting ISIS out from its save havens in Iraqi and Syrian villages, towns and cities. “We will eradicate terrorism,” Hollande told the French parliament, more hope than reality, considering France’s sizable Muslim immigrant population from the Mideast and North Africa, locked inside French ghettos with little hope for the future. Promising to wage war “mercilessly” against ISIS, Hollande dispatched the aircraft carrier Chariles de Gaulle to the region.
Calling the attacks in Paris “terrible and sickening,” Obama hasn’t yet faced reality that the U.S. must do more to lead a multinational coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Putting the onus on Mideast states makes good sound-bites but isn’t realistic in combating the reach of global terror of groups like al-Qaeda and now ISIS. “The strategy that we are putting forward is the strategy that is ultimately going to work,” Obama told a G20. Obama dismissed criticism from GOP presidential candidates, obscuring the real issue: That the current U.S. strategy isn’t working. Consumed with past U.S. mistakes in Iraq, Obama can’t see today’s reality. “Talking as if they’re tough,” Obama hit back at his GOP critics. Saying GOP calls for U.S. ground troops “would be a mistake,” Barack insisted it would lead to a permanent U.S. occupation force, refusing to accept his job as commander-in-chief.
Pleading with the U.S. and Russia to join his “grand coalition,” Hollande recognizes the stakes are too great for the status quo. “This is not an abstraction,” said Obama.. “When we send troops in, those troops get injured. They get killed,” offering a shortsighted glimpse into Obama’s logic. Former President George W. Bush wasn’t wrong launching Operation Enduring Freedom after Sept. 11. What more does Barack need to see? ISIS said they will hit Washington, maybe the White House, when the time’s right. Obama’s response to the Paris attacks and call from Hollande for a “grand coalition” to confront ISIS on the ground could make-or-break Hillary’s campaign. Whether it’s Nidal Malik Hasan’s Nov. 5, 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, Texas or Tsarnaev brothers’ April 13, 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, Islamic terrorism has already returned to American streets.
Relying on the FBI or CIA to prevent the next dramatic terrorist incident in New York or Washington is no counter-terrorism strategy. No one wants to see American troops loose their lives battling radical Islam. It’s time to stop blaming Bush for past U.S. mistakes and face current terrorist threats to U.S. and European national security. Bush got it right that taking the battle to the enemy is the only way to prevent future attacks. Former President Bill Clinton fired Cruise Missiles at Osama bin Laden in 1998, only three years before Sept. 11. Declaring ISIS “contained” one day before the Paris attacks, Obama’s got it wrong and must now rethink a failed strategy. Listening to Hollande—and not GOP critics—Barack must accept his burden as leader of the free world. Ignoring history’s duty to confront implacable threats to democracy saves no one’s blood and treasure.
