By
Peter J. Thomas and Charles Orndorff
The deadline for a strategic decision on dealing with ISIL has arrived. There can be no excuse for further delay. President Obama must establish clear national goals, explain them to the American public, obtain authorization from Congress, and apply the necessary resources to achieve those goals.
This decision must be reached after a realistic appraisal of the long-term consequences of each option. The President must not repeat his Libya mistake, when he rushed the U.S. into an unauthorized war without considering whether the overthrow of its dictator might easily result in the creation of another terrorist-ruled state. President Obama must put aside his liberal ideology, and demonstrate his willingness to deal with facts while evaluating how to protect American citizens and American interests.
The Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have all warned of the grave danger to national security that would follow from the existence of the Islamic state being established by ISIL. Is the destruction of ISIL the only solution to this threat? If so, the President must not only say so, but must put aside his strong prejudice against American military action. He must admit that the United States can be a force for good in the world. He must have his military advisors develop a strategy for destruction, and must then work with Congress to provide the assets needed to carry out that strategy. This may require rolling back some of the defense budget cuts already made or scheduled to occur. It may require putting on hold the order to put women into combat positions.
The President must even, if unavoidable, be willing to commit additional US ground troops to the mission in order to guarantee its success.
However, if the President’s evaluation of the evidence convinces him that the United States can co-exist with ISIL, and that it is not a serious threat to our national security, he must quickly explain to the public how he reached that conclusion and why the statements by high-ranking members of his administration were exaggerations. He must also determine whether continued air strikes against ISIL forces serve any useful purpose, or merely antagonize a nation with which we should be peacefully co-existing. Would containment of ISIL within its existing borders, or even total non-intervention, better serve our interests?
The one unacceptable course is to continue to react to events in Iraq and Syria without any coherent strategy to guide us. The President may have no good or easy choices left, but the US must establish and follow a carefully thought-out strategy to protect our national interests over the long-term.
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