Monday, October 6, 2014

The Ostrich Effect


We will never have a better example of the stupidity of thinking that Islamic extremist will leave us alone if we only leave them alone than what has happened in Iraq. Obama pulled every U.S. troop out of Iraq.  Now extremists have overrun the country and are threatening to destroy America, and Obama is less popular than George W. Bush in the Middle East. We should also learn a lesson about giving military equipment to untrustworthy people to fight our battles. It’s sickening to see ISIS driving around in our Humvees and tanks firing our weapons.
So, what are we to do? The time for good options was squandered so we are only left with bad options and really bad options. One really bad option is to do nothing. That would have far reaching consequences around the world and back here at home. Another really bad option is to do what we are doing now: pretending bombing is affective and giving military equipment and training to untrustworthy people to fight our battles.
The least bad option, and the only one I think we are left with, is to send our troops in to wipe these barbarians out and take back our stuff! But before we go in I would get a Status of Forces agreement with the leadership in Iraq that Obama failed to get at the end of the war. That agreement would include the establishment of two permanent U.S. military installations/airfields, one near the border with Iran and one near the border with Syria. Yes, we have to have a presence there. I agree with Victor David Hansen when he said this in a recent Nation Review Online article:
“It is popular to think that America’s threats can be neutralized by occasional use of missiles, bombs, and drones without much cost. But blowing apart a problem for a while is different from ending it for good. The latter aim requires just the sort of unpopular occupations that calmed the Balkans, and had done the same in Iraq by 2011.”
Like it or not, the U.S. is a super-power and a force for good in the world. We must stay engaged on the world stage. We have powerful enemies who will exploit any sign of weakness. The world needs a strong America to keep the peace. Who else is going to do it? France?