Last night brought terror to Nice, France. It's not just that ISIS or an ISIS wannabe struck in France; it's that the attack was massive and highly deadly and that it hit a target that French police should have known was a possibility to be hit. It seems that ISIS and Islamic terrorism has clearly not been "contained" or whatever the Obama word of the day will be. In the last two month, we've seen major terror attacks by ISIS in the USA (Orlando), France, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. No one could conclude from this carnage that ISIS has been stopped or contained or even diminished. It remains a true problem.
The obvious question then arises: what is the best response for the USA to all of this? We already know president Obama's view, namely that everything is going well and there's no need to change our strategy. (I apologize for writing that America has a strategy for dealing with terror, but I was just trying to put forth what Obama will say, without regard to the truth of the statement.) So Obama wants to go with a few more airstrikes and a few more special ops forces in Iraq or Syria who engage in non-combat combat. We all know that doesn't work. So once again, what is the best response by the USA?
What if the USA were to completely change its stance? Suppose we went to Turkey and France and Jordan and the Saudis and suggested a coordinated attack on the ISIS capital. Just imagine the result if 60,000 troops from the Turkish army crossed the border into Syria in a drive towards Raqqa. Imagine a coordinated set of air strikes against that city, not by 15 US planes but by 200 that fly non-stop missions to level every suspected ISIS outpost. Imagine, in other words, an all out assault on Raqqa. We could change shock and awe to shock and goodbye. Once ISIS is gone from Raqqa, attention can be turned on any ISIS strongholds that would remain.
Obviously, there would be many casualties, but that will be the case even if we follow the Obama no-action plan. What is the down side to a mostly Sunni army (Turkey) destroying a bunch of Sunni terrorists with the help of major American air power?
I don't know if this plan could even be carried out or if it would actually work. I do know, however, that we cannot continue the slow march to disaster on which Obama currently has the nation. He will soon be gone, but the problem will remain. We need to discuss what comes now.
The obvious question then arises: what is the best response for the USA to all of this? We already know president Obama's view, namely that everything is going well and there's no need to change our strategy. (I apologize for writing that America has a strategy for dealing with terror, but I was just trying to put forth what Obama will say, without regard to the truth of the statement.) So Obama wants to go with a few more airstrikes and a few more special ops forces in Iraq or Syria who engage in non-combat combat. We all know that doesn't work. So once again, what is the best response by the USA?
What if the USA were to completely change its stance? Suppose we went to Turkey and France and Jordan and the Saudis and suggested a coordinated attack on the ISIS capital. Just imagine the result if 60,000 troops from the Turkish army crossed the border into Syria in a drive towards Raqqa. Imagine a coordinated set of air strikes against that city, not by 15 US planes but by 200 that fly non-stop missions to level every suspected ISIS outpost. Imagine, in other words, an all out assault on Raqqa. We could change shock and awe to shock and goodbye. Once ISIS is gone from Raqqa, attention can be turned on any ISIS strongholds that would remain.
Obviously, there would be many casualties, but that will be the case even if we follow the Obama no-action plan. What is the down side to a mostly Sunni army (Turkey) destroying a bunch of Sunni terrorists with the help of major American air power?
I don't know if this plan could even be carried out or if it would actually work. I do know, however, that we cannot continue the slow march to disaster on which Obama currently has the nation. He will soon be gone, but the problem will remain. We need to discuss what comes now.
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