By Danielle MoskowitzSPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
On Sept. 10, hours before the United States memorialized the victims of another devastating terrorist attack, President Obama addressed his fellow Americans on his foreign policy plans to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
ISIS, the terrorist group denounced by al-Qaida for being too extreme, has declared a new religious state that follows the same Shariah law as the Taliban in Afghanistan. Since its creation in 2006, the group has taken over much of Iraq and Syria, capturing and executing prisoners and killing men, women and children.
Obama tore apart the name in his speech, claiming that the group is not Islamic because no religion condones the killing of innocents, and that the group is recognized by no government, and is therefore, not a state.
Early in the speech, the President stated that we cannot erase every trace of evil from the world. That may be so, but the terrors of ISIS have grown too large to avoid.
In the speech, Obama introduced his four-phase plan, which, according to the New York Times, officials say may take three years to complete. This means the projected end of the plan does not end until a year after the Obama administration has left office.
The first phase has already taken place. Obama has already ordered about 150 airstrikes in Iraq, which has been effective in injuring ISIS and helping Iraqi militants gain back some of the ground they have lost. This tactic has helped protect innocent civilians, including the small population of the Yazidi religion who were on the brink of extinction.
Step two is to train, advise and equip the Iraqi military by sending U.S. servicemen who will serve only in support roles to advise and provide humanitarian aid.
Secretary of State John Kerry is already in Iraq to meet with the new government to ensure this second phase is going according to plan, and the Iraqi people will be able to fight ISIS on their own.
For the third step, Obama has ordered for airstrikes in Syria. The situation in Syria is especially complicated by the possibility of working with the Assad regime, which is still out of favor with the world because of the chemical weapon attacks on its own people.
Obamas original intention was to ignore the Syrian government and focus only on his own plans. This is now the most politically controversial phase of Obamas plan.
Step four is to continue to provide humanitarian aid in the region. Obama repeatedly assured the nation that we would not put American boots on the ground. But already, a senior Air Force commander has called for ground troops in Syria to effectively execute the campaign against the terrorist group, reported USA Today.
After the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans are sick and tired of being tangled up in full-scale wars on foreign soil, out of which we fail to pull our troops in a timely manner. Putting boots on the ground in Iraq or Syria would be both financially and emotionally exhausting on the country, still in debt from the wars we began during the Bush administration 11 years ago.
Taking on too big a role in this conflict will distract the president and the country from other issues, both at home and abroad. Already, the ISIS conflict has taken over the media, pushing the issue of sovereignty in Ukraine, Ebola and civil rights in the United States out of the spotlight.
It is hard to comprehend all the details involving ISIS, and its clear the Obama administration and the 113th Congress has a difficult choice to make. But we need to make sure that we dont make decisions we cant come back from by entering into yet another long, draining war.
We need to encourage other nations to sign on to help destroy this terrorist group. Already, Kerry has been traveling Europe and the Middle East, trying to get more allies, having already signed on nine nations, including the UK, still reeling from the beheading of its own citizen, aid worker David Haines. While the need to protect people from ISIS is an unavoidable reality, we need to enter this conflict mindful of past mistakes.
At the end of his speech, Obama said that we welcome the responsibility to lead. We should not, however, welcome the responsibility to deal with this conflict alone.
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