Friday, September 12, 2014
What "It" ISIS
"Speak softly, and carry a big stick" was the phrase many used to describe the foreign policy of President Theodore Roosevelt. Nothing is more true than this statement as to how the Obama Administration should carry out their military actions against ISIS. You see, it seems this administration has done the absolute opposite. The ignored "red lines" regarding Syria seem to have been drawn in washable marker. Turn on any news source and the first headline you will see is about ISIS. ISIS is the media outlet's "IT" right now as discussed in the text. How did ISIS become so overwhelming in American media? Well, the answer is simple; our current administration made threats they would never follow through with. This allowed the terrorists to lack any type of fear of the United States. When the media publicly released that President Obama released terrorists for a prisoner of war, ISIS saw an opportunity to negotiate American lives. With this action, he single-handedly placed the power of negotiation into the hands of terrorists. It seems America DOES negotiate with terrorists. Speaking loudly while carrying a toy gun is clearly the administrations policy. However, as seen with ISIS, eventually the bright orange cap on the toy gun shines through and who's afraid of a toy gun? The war on terror is one that is continually ongoing. You must adapt, change, and understand the type of warfare of the terrorists BEFORE you decide to make any kind of military action. You can strike ISIS with air strikes, you can threaten, you can draw "red lines,"–as President Obama discussed in his speech– but without a strong, implemented plan, you will fail. Miserably. The United States of America has failed miserably to protect civilians in Syria who died horrid deaths from chemical weapons. They have failed miserably to combat crises before they happen. They have failed miserably at keeping American citizens safe and protected outside of the borders. Agreed or not, the United States is the strongest world power. If we take a position of doing the bare minimum, we will soon be faced with even more American deaths. We will find ourselves fighting a foreign terrorist organization on our own soil. And when this happens, will the rest of the world sit back and do nothing, just as we have in recent years?
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Greg,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post, however, I must respectfully disagree to some extent. Please reflect on how we went into Iraq, looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction. Was Iraq the country to send terrorists to bomb us on 9/11/01? Thousands, upon thousands of American lives were lost in Iraq, all in the name of their freedom, and sovereignty, while searching for WMDs, to no avail. Can America want freedom, sovereignty, democracry and respect for ALL people in these countries, more than the citizens of these countries? We CANNOT allow our men and women to live out their lives FOREVER in these foreign countries, while attempting to combat hate, envy, strife, religious wars, or territorial disputes among the Sunnis and Shiites. President Obama was elected, TWICE, to end wars and that is one of his objectives. The primary objective is to keep America safe, as of now, he has. Yes, terrorists can strike at any time, and I am sure they are plotting to do so as I type. However, journalists and soldiers must know the risks that are involved when taking on assignments or operations ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE. The drawing of the red-line should never have been stated publically, only to be null and void once Assad uses those chemical weapons. No matter if we strike in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yeman, or Somalia, there will ALWAYS be those demonically possessed who desires to arm us and others in the world. This is just the world we live in, where people want to spread hate instead of love, evil instead of good, curses instead of blessings, and division instead of unity. The Iraqi government did not want American soldiers there past 2011, and would not grant them immunity. We HAD to pull out. We CANNOT continue to stay, shedding precious blood, sweat and tears where we aren't going to be respected or honored. An attempt was made on July 4, 2014 to free James Foley and other journalists, however, they had since been relocated. Intelligence gathering in these foreign countries is difficult and although the intelligence may be valid now, in this minute, could be invalid in the blink of an eye. In Syria, we must be very careful of our approach, as it may appear that we are siding with the Assad regime. I am not saying the present administration hasn't made their share of mistakes, because they have, however, I do believe some of your perception may be a bit slighted and misguided. Bowe Bergdahl was a SOLDIER for the United States of America, and according to our own mantra, WE LEAVE NO SOLDIER BEHIND. Yes, President Obama negotiated to have 5 terrorists released in exchange for Bergdahl's freedom. However, President Bush released or transferred 532 detainees and almost 20% of them have rejoined terrorist groups. Oftentimes, we must PLAY THE HAND WE ARE DEALT, inspite of the optics!!