Plan for ISIS

President Obama finally states that he has a “plan” to resolve the ISIS issue. He says that the mission is to “degrade and destroy the enemy”. What does that even mean?  Obama believes that the way to put an end to ISIS is to expand their air campaign to Syria and to arm and train Syrian rebels. But of course there is a flaw already in executing his plan.

Stated in the article, Obama on the World, Obama is quoted saying that the non-jihadist rebels are just a bunch of “doctors, farmers, and pharmacists”.  And now he is saying that training these doctors, farmers, and pharmacists will help “destroy” the trained ISIS terrorist group? So, let’s get this straight; the plan is to fly in air support for a bunch of farmers in tanks? If you aren't already concerned about this plan, wait till you hear what Obama has to say next. He then states that we don’t have to worry at all because we have “a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.” Even though that he hasn't mentioned a single member or group that is going to help support us in “destroying” ISIS.

How are we going to defeat ISIS with little support against a highly dangerous terrorist group? Let’s look at the difference between when we sent troops to Iraq vs Obama’s plan to resolve this issue. According to the Center of Military History of the U.S. Army, Bush had support of 37 nations and had over 25,000 troops while Obama only has 8 NATO members and Australia. If it took Bush that many support units and resources to resolve the issue in Iraq, how is 8 NATO members going to resolve anything? The answer is it isn't. Airstrikes are a start but they aren't the solution. We need to have more support from other countries and send troops even though that it would never happen. However, this is what needs to be done to resolve the ISIS problem once and for all. 

But, to take action we need approval from Congress. The question is, why isn't Congress putting the majority of their focus on the ISIS issue right now? Because, Congress seats are up for re-election. So, if Congress is too focused on their campaigns to get re-elected and won't pass anything for Obama to take action, how will he "destroy" ISIS? 

There are many questions that arise to see what we, as America, can really do to "destroy" ISIS. Obama's "plan" doesn't work for a majority of reasons. Reason number one is that Obama doesn't have enough support to truly "destroy" ISIS and bring an end to this terrorist group. Reason number two is that Congress is too busy with their own re-elections that they haven't been able to pass anything yet so we can take action. Without Congress support and more resources, Obama truly can't do anything to "destroy" ISIS.

Citations

Krauthammer, Charles. "Obama's Uncertain Trumpet, Again." Washington Post. September 11, 2014. Accessed September 11, 2014.

Gerson, Michael. "President Obama's Careful War on Terrorism." Washington Post. September 11, 2014. Accessed September 11, 2014.

Balz, Dan. "Obama Offers Resolve and a Strategy - within Limits." Washington Post. September 11, 2014. Accessed September 11, 2014.