I say no American troops on the ground in Raqqa. Let the Arab governments provide foot soldiers, along with air cover from the US and it’s allies in order to dislodge Islamic State fighters from it’s Syrian stronghold.
Troop supporters say bombing alone will not get the job done, so Obama should send US troops to defeat ISIL and expunge Bashir Assad the ruthless leader of Syria.
Sending American troops into Syria will do nothing but muddy the playing field, and if we were to bring down Assad, nobody can say the next leader will be an improvement. It certainly won’t stop the fighting because they will turn their guns on US troops, the non-believers.
We should have learned from our journey into Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction, yet to be found. After 2 trillion dollars spent and more than 100,000 dead Iraqis civilians we won the battle but ended up losing the war–as soon as Obama dismissed our troops. As Yogi use to say, ‘it’s deja vu all over again.’
Sunni Muslims are more concerned about Assad’s removal then the disappearance of ISIL, because he is of the alawite sect of Shia Islam which dominates Iran, and Islamic State fighters are mostly Sunni.
It’s sectarian politics playing here as Sunni Saudi Arabia and shia Iran are vying for regional dominance, so ground troops should come from their supporters. And there is plenty of support to be found. Iran has the Syrian regime, backed up by Hezbollah, Iranian Republican Guard, Iraqi Shia Militias and Russia, all with boots on the ground. Arabs and Kurds are fighting ISIS on the ground, while the US air intervention include UK, France Belgium and The Netherlands.
With 250,000 dead and Syria on the edge of obliteration, its time for Obama to hit the pause button and concentrate on defeating ISIL in Iraq, since it was under Bush that we entered in pursuit of Saddam Hussein; and it was Obama’s exit that led to the government downfall.
Obama had the opportunity to maintain a military presence in Iraq but held to his campaign promise to bring our soldiers home and turn it over to it’s leaders . Well it didn’t take long for the government to fall apart due to ethnic and sectarian differences, as shia, sunnis and kurds fought each other for dominance. While the country was in chaos Islamic States slipped in and wrestled control of much of Iraq.
Now we’re back to square one. We should rid ISIL from Iraq as soon as possible and keep a strong contingent there until a productive government is in place.
That may take a long time.
hubiejones.com 