by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 19, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

              Beheading Christian Ethiopians in Braqa Province Libya, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria crossed another line, committing atrocities that can no longer be ignored by President Barack Obama.  Obama’s reluctance to put boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria raise more credibility problems for the U.S. military.  While few in the U.S. have the stomach for a protracted military campaign in Middle East, the current air campaign does little to stop ISIS from wreaking havoc in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and now Libya.  Worried about mission creep, Obama has chosen the easy way out, not the one likely to end ISIS two-year reign of terror.  Most military experts agree that ISIS can’t be purged from Iraq, Syria and Libya by only air power.  Obama’s reluctance to respond forcefully to ISIS stealing some 30% of Iraq and Syria has hurt U.S. credibility in the Middle East and elsewhere.

             No one other than leftover apologists from the Bush administration disputes that toppling Saddam Hussein April 10, 2003 unleashed the evil genie of Islamic terrorism in the region.  Former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney’s attempt to democratize the Middle East backfired, spreading Islamic extremism in previously stable authoritarian regimes.  Learning from the so-called Arab Spring where dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria faced revolutions spurred by genuine democracy movements, the populations need authoritarian regimes to stop Islamic extremism.  ISIS spread precisely in the dreaded “power vacuum,” together with other extremists groups now engulfing the area.  Watching ISIS commit some of the worst war atrocities since the Nazis in WWII shows the fragile nature of Mideast states, not ready for democracy now or in the future.

             Beheading Christians in Libya shows why the presence of the U.S. military is sadly missed in the region.  Expressed by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) this weekend at a Republican event Nashua, New Hampshire, the mood today is one of isolationism.  Paul opposes foreign military intervention, believing it’s not the U.S. place to play world policeman.  When you look at the anarchy in various parts of the world under Obama, it shows the dangers of U.S. isolationism under Obama’s foreign policy.  Either the U.S. leads in the world or hands adventurous dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin or Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to run roughshod over sovereign states.  Putin’s annexation of Crimea March 1, 2014 and undermining of the Kiev government shows the necessity of having a strong U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

             Showing the linkage between ending the Iraq and Afghan Wars and emerging chaos around the globe shows the necessity of having a strong U.S. military footprint.  Obama’s non-interventionist policy has its backers in Paul but has exposed the vulnerability of the world order to radical regimes with strong military backing.  White House policy makers can’t get their policy straight in Syria where a determined multi-pronged Wahhabi Sunni insurgency has given groups like ISIS the green light in Iraq and Syria.  White House officials can’t figure out whom to battle, throwing their weight behind toppling Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.  Despite watching the anarchy in Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Syria, it’s obvious that if al-Assad falls the region becomes another radical Islamic quagmire. Learning from other failed Mideast states should alert the White House to leave al-Assad alone.

             Barbarians like ISIS can only be eradicated by a strong on-the-ground military presence.  Working with the Kurds and other allies, U.S. forces are needed to help do the heavy lifting to reclaim essential parts of oil rich Kurdistan, like Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.  Watching Mosul fall to ISIS June 10, 2014 was a rude awakening for the U.S. military that pulled out of Iraq Dec. 15, 2011.  Whatever the reasons for the U.S. withdrawal, including antagonism by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite government, it paved the way for ISIS.  Now that ISIS controls some 30% of Iraq and Syria, the U.S. must do more than bomb ISIS desert positions.  Iraq’s beleaguered military under Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has asked the U.S. to reconsider supplying ground troops to Iraq.  Obama’s anti-Iraq War stance shouldn’t blind him to ongoing threats to U.S. national security.

             Whatever happened with ISIS beheading Ethiopian Christians in Libya, the White House must get serious about leading the way to get rid of ISIS in Iraq.  Air-strikes alone won’t dislodge ISIS from Mosul and other Iraq and Syrian cities and villages.  Only a committed land army, working with Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian troops, can rid ISIS from the region.   Arming the Kurds and coordinating military operations with Iraqi and Peshmerga fighters can the U.S. end its failed policy in Iraq and Syria.  Dealing with ISIS in Libya, Yemen, Somalia or other remote places isn’t necessary now.  What’s needed is the White House and Pentagon working with Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to drive ISIS from Mosul and other Iraqi towns.  Since the Bush White House caused the anarchy by toppling Saddam, the U.S. should be part of the solution to rid the region of ISIIS and other radical groups.

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