It is time to step back and evaluate where we are. The global war against terrorism is NOT why
we are in Syria. It should be why we are
in Syria, but not in the form of air strikes.
We are in Syria for humanitarian reasons. The Islamic State (or ISIS) has been
committing acts of mass murder and genocide and we are attempting to stop
it. Most Americans would not go back to
war in the Middle East unless they believed that the purpose of our military
action was to protect our homeland. Our
current actions in Syria are not to protect the homeland. The targeted bombing of the al Qaeda
affiliate in Syria (the Nusra Front) on the first night of bombing was to
protect the homeland. Since then, our
bombing has been to diminish the killing capabilities of ISIS: the capacity to
kill other people of the Middle East, NOT Americans.
The Nusra Front was plotting attacks against Western countries;
and most likely continues to do so. Our
government cannot confirm how many of the Nusra Front was killed in our
air-strike. The Obama administration has
stated that at WORST it has delayed the intended attack on Western society. To stand back and evaluate it objectively the
truth is that at BEST, we have delayed the intended attack. Al Qaeda is alive and well and planning an
attack on the infidels.
We have attempted to stabilize the governments in Iraq and Afghanistan
so that al Qaeda could not use these territories to plot their next attack on
us. In turn, al Qaeda found another spot
on the globe where a failing government could not curtail their terroristic
ways – Syria. With all the turmoil in Syria, we have no
chance of restoring a stable government in that corner of the world. Our on-going airstrikes in Syria are to help
stop the human slaughtering by ISIS on the peoples of Iraq and Syria – NOT to
protect America. Do you as an American
support sending in ground forces for this purpose? Is anyone prepared to spend another trillion
dollars to fight feeble ground wars against global terrorism?
President Obama is correct to leave the stabilization of
Iraq and Syria to the region’s neighbors; Muslim Arabs that will not be branded
as crusaders or infidels. Maybe the
Muslim Arab neighbors will take on the larger task of preaching the true
meaning of Islam and dissuade young, disenfranchised Muslims from joining such
horrific terroristic groups. Until the
radical brand of Islam is discredited by other Muslim’s, martyrdom will remain
a noble cause for a young Muslim with no better prospects in life.
But back to the big picture of what America must face – a world
of radical Islamists that are bent on our destruction and a world of unstable
governments from where these terrorists can operate. What if we could stabilize Syria so that al
Qaeda could not operate there? They
would move to Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or
some other unstable part of the world.
We cannot stabilize the entire world.
Therefore, we have to take another approach to fighting terrorists.
We must spend less money on munitions and more on intelligence
gathering, special operations forces, and border protection. The pentagon needs to become the
hexagon. Joining the Army, Air Force,
Navy, Coast Guard and National Guard should be the Anti-Terrorism Force. Okay, that isn’t necessary – but the focus
that such a titled force would bring to protecting America is needed. No more large scale troop invasions on
foreign soil. No more waiting for
unstable countries to collapse before learning that there are terrorists in
those countries planning harm on America.
We need eyes and ears on the ground everywhere in the world, and a
stealth, fast-attack, special operations force capable of swooping into every
hell hole in the world, kill the bad guys and get back out as quickly as they
arrived. We need drones in the air and
hell-fire missiles ready to go around the clock. We must cease and desist as the world’s
police and become the world’s surgeon capable of cutting out the cancer of
terrorism where ever it is detected.
This must be an American force, but an alliance with other
like-minded countries to share these anti-terrorism responsibilities must be
formed and maintained on an on-going basis; not just in times of mass
murder. Terrorism is not mass murder in
foreign countries; it is focused attacks to kill civilians in their homeland. Therefore, focused special operations forces
are needed to eliminate terrorism – not large masses of ground forces.
Now is the time to forge this on-going anti-terrorism
alliance. The Europeans have joined us
in Iraq (not Syria) because they know they need us to protect them from
Russia. But, are six jet-fighters all
the UK can lend to the current conflict?
If Putin was not threatening Europe would they have joined in on the
ISIS attack? Would any of the Europeans
have joined us? We need to cement an
anti-terrorism compact now and assure an on-going involvement with the Arab
countries that stand with us now.
With that said, as Americans we do have the responsibility
to prevent and stop genocide on a large scale.
We cannot stabilize the entire world but we can provide relief to people
in dire need. What we are doing in Iraq
and Syria is the right thing to do – but it will not protect us from terrorism.
