We’re losing the war…
Tuesday, March 10th, 2015[I apologize to my friends on Facebook, where I usually share these posts. Facebook has made it impossible to share. You can follow me on Google+. I recommend cancelling your Facebook accounts and creating Google+ accounts, if you haven’t already.]
While drone surveillance and attacks and Special Ops are a better military solution than “boots on the ground,” there’s no doubt that ISIS, al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups will only be defeated if the countries affected wage effective war against these militant Islamic groups. The key word is “effective.” Remember that ISIS received a big boost when poorly trained Iraqi forces ran for their lives, often in their underwear—equipment left behind, much of it American, is now in ISIS’ hands. That has to stop. Western presence is justified there for equipping and training local forces so that these fiascos aren’t repeated.
That said, the West isn’t doing nearly enough to hurt these groups where it’s most effective—financially and personnel-wise. I’m reminded of World War Two where indifference, peaceniks, and anti-Semitic sentiments conspired to give Hitler a free hand in Europe. We don’t need another Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan, but we shouldn’t bury our heads in the sand either and hope Islamic nations will destroy the extremists in their midst without our help. The recent Twitter action, for example, while a good start, is a drop in the bucket. The West needs a concerted effort to stop all finances flowing into the illegal insurgent groups. Funds must be frozen and their propaganda machine must be dismantled. We can be good at that, and it’s the least we can do.