Guest AuthorDid you hear recently that a significant number of U.S. troops will soon be heading back to Iraq?
The subdued announcement came on the heels of yet another major terror attack in Europe. First Paris, now Brussels, have illustrated the vulnerability of the West to attacks by Islamic extremists.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, stated that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will be recommending to President Barack Obama an expansion of the “U.S. military footprint” to begin to gain control of Iraq from ISIS.
“The secretary and I both believe that there will be an increase to the U.S. forces in Iraq in the coming weeks, but that decision hasn’t been made,” Dunford said.
The buildup has already begun. This year, the U.S. already has 3,800 troops there.
Returning soldiers to Iraq is a sign that the Obama administration is finally admitting the utter failure of a misguided and detrimental Internationalist foreign and military policy.
The use of Special Forces and air power against Islamic fascists, in conjunction with alleged allies and Russia is not keeping America and the western world safe.
After Brussels, our military buildup in Iraq is inevitable.
America indeed needs to rebuild its presence in Iraq and the Middle East and embrace being the world’s policeman.
We need to stay in Iraq for decades to build a democratic nation there. The U.S. is not an evil imperialist. Rather our presence is a righteous method of assuring our security and the human rights of citizens in foreign countries.
The bombings in Paris and Brussels highlight Obama’s misguided decision to abandon Iraq, which ultimately led to the rise of ISIS.
To his credit, Obama has recognized our need to stay in Afghanistan. There was another muted announcement in February that more troops were on the way to fight the Taliban there too, joining the 10,000 troops already there.
In light of our presence in Afghanistan, here are two questions: Isn’t it time for an admission that pulling out of Iraq was wrong and isn’t it time for a declaration of war against ISIS?
It’s clear that we are going to have to commit substantial resources in the Middle East to defeat ISIS. We need to prosecute all out war.
Our American “instant gratification” need to win a war in a few days and then contain the enemy with bombing runs and special-forces operations obviously doesn’t work.
Americans have to get over our post-Vietnam obsession of avoiding mass civilian casualties at all costs and the politically correct handcuffing of troops in fighting the enemy.
It’s a simple choice: Either we fight a serious war to eradicate this radical Islamic threat or eventually fight it at great costs on the shores of the Hudson and the Potomac.
If we go into Iraq and Syria, we will have to kill thousands and injure more to win — and we should plan to keep troops there indefinitely. We need to get realistic and be ready for major U.S. and civilian casualties.
Before Americans suffer great casualties at home, Obama should fix his mistakes, ask Congress for a declaration of war, and allow the American military to rid the world of ISIS. Then we can start rebuilding the Middle East for the rest of this century.
Another suggestion: Obama needs to bring back that bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office and get Teddy Roosevelt’s Big Stick out of the closet.
His successor will need them.
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Steven Kurlander blogs at Kurly’s Kommentary (stevenkurlander.com) and writes for Context Florida and The Huffington Post and can be found on Twitter @Kurlykomments. He lives in Monticello, New York. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
