(from 6/24/2014)
John McCain is now calling for airstirkes in Iraq, along with Senators Lindsey Graham and Bob Corker, in response to the sizeable gains main by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is now pushing forward and is now threatening Bagdad.
Graham made the case pretty well, stating “Our most immediate priority must be to reverse the advance of a terrorist threat that is more radical, violent, and ambitious than Al-Qaeda.” And he has plenty of data to support his case. ISIS, while continuing to advance toward the Iraqi capital, has shown it’s true colors as a massive terrorist army, executing civilians as it advances, and carrying out brutal assassinations and terror campaigns against Shi’ites and Christians alike. More and more mass graves are being uncovered, and there is little doubt that many more atrocities are to come.
ISIS has also made it clear that it has major ambitions to export terror abroad and particularly to the US. And they may have help from American traitors, who are reportedly flocking to join the ISIS movement. These same fanatics, assuming they survive their time with ISIS, will have the training and experience to bring terror back to the US, and they will all have US passports. True, some will be identified by US intelligence and (hopefully) stopped in time, but it’s reasonable to assume that at least a few will slip through the net. It’s happened before.
Realistically, air strikes alone won’t stop ISIS – as with almost all conflicts, the real work has to be done on the ground. But it’s already too late for the US to re-enter Iraq. While US forces occupied Iraq, the country was experiencing relative stability, but the inability of the Obama Administration to stay the course there has meant that the country will fall apart, and there is no political or popular support for re-deployment. Which means the task will fall to either the (shaky, very shaky) Iraqi government, or to the Shi’ite ‘Peace Brigades’ (read: Mahdi Army) led by Muqtada al-Sadr.
However, if a few intelligently-placed airstrikes succeed in taking out some terrorists now, while they are relatively out in the open, so much the better.
